The Coffee Shop at Seven A.M.

The culture of "morning service" lives in this town too. From the counter of a coffee shop that opens at seven.

At seven in the morning, open the door and you hear the siphon. The morning set of toast, boiled egg and coffee hasn't changed price in twenty years. "Every year I think about raising it, more regulars show up," says the mama.

The crowd changes with the hour. In the seven o'clock hour, regulars before work; at eight, farmers on their way back from the fields; after nine, people in the middle of a walk. "Lots of people sit in the same seat, so I can tell the time by the seats. More accurate than a clock."

The coffee is, of course, brewed with that water. "You can change the beans, but not the water, right? So half our taste is the town's taste." To travelers: if you want to know this town's mornings, after the field at five, come to this counter at seven. The day's arrangements for the town drift over from the next seat.