His real question is: How is Billy doing walking to and from the train?

So ... what I really have to tell you about is "the unfriendly New Yorkers."

I grew up in Dallas, TX. I have lived in the DFW metroplex and in East Texas. I did not know it was possible to feel like vapor. My presence was always acknowledged in some way ... just because I breathed.

I have also visited Portland, Oregon for a year. I say visited because almost as soon as I got there, I wanted to leave. We wouldn't even open up a local banking account. Why? Because unless a person knows you in Portland, Oregon people do not even acknowledge that you are taking up space. You are vapor.

I wanted to go back to Texas. My husband wanted out of Oregon but wanted to find a way to stay in the NW -- in Washington. Nothing was working out. So we papered the nation with his resume and within 30 minutes, Billy was sure we were moving to NY. And the short of it is that we did.

I expected more of the same aloofness. Instead ... I am in a new form of culture shock. I can smile and receive smiles -- not suspicion-filled scowls. I can be just standing around taking up space and suddenly be in conversation. I can laugh quietly to myself about something overheard at the next table in the cafe ... and suddenly I am included in the group's conversation -- with my opinion sought. I can ask questions and get detailed answers. I can pass someone and ask about the book they are carrying. I can find myself walking next to a stranger on the sidewalk and suddenly we're talking about our surroundings and observations.

It is like being back in Texas ... people love to talk ... interact ... have opinions ... hear opinions.

I had a realtor tell me I just know how to bring out the best in New Yorkers but ... it's not just me ... for example .... I offer up one proof: The Starbucks here have regulars and the regulars have a "Regulars Club." If you become involved in conversation with one of the regulars, you will very likely soon be in conversation with all of the regulars who are present. If your coffee shop has a "Regulars Club" like this, you know what I mean ... (if it doesn't, I'll pass on my infiltration tips that I used in Oregon -- just ask.)

AND ...

Let's talk about how it is that my husband is staying warm in sub-freezing weather when he has to hike 1.5 miles to the train station.

My husband is not a small man. He wears an imposing full-length, black duster coat. He takes a backpack with him to work every day. Up until recently it's been dark when he leaves the house. And still ... all of that imposing figure stuff figured in .... almost every morning ... He walks away from the house ... and someone stops and picks him up.

We do not know the people in the small town we live in. It's not always the same someone. Sometimes it's someone who has spoken with him at the train station ... sometimes it's someone who has only observed him at the train station. Sometimes it's someone he talks to every morning. Sometimes it's a lady. Sometimes it's a gentleman.

Every evening he has to change trains. Sometimes there is a person there who sees him and brings him the rest of the way home. If not, he comes on the next train to our town. More often than not ... someone there offers him a ride home.

Sunday he tried to walk home from the A&P (a little further a way) ... Nope. He didn't make it home on foot that day, either. Yep, another complete stranger (with tips on hiking Germany dirt cheep, by the way).

They say the unfriendliness is worse down by the city ... but ... last Thursday, at Grand Central, people volunteered info when they saw it would be useful, stopped short so that I could take photos uninterrupted, smiled if I smiled, and answered any question I had.

I told my dad this and he said, "People talk about how unfriendly New Yorkers are -- but I'm just not believing it's true anymore."

Yeah! Me neither, Daddy!