Evening softens everything. The sky bruises purple and then rinses to a slow, bright dusk. Lights bloom in windows like constellations dropped into the low hills. Dinner is communal—big pans of stew, platters of grilled vegetables, the kind of food that invites seconds without asking. Music slips out from a porch, a guitar played with easy, practiced fingers, a voice that knows how to make a simple song feel like a net that catches everyone. Laughter is frequent and honest, the kind that comes from shared labor and shared beers.