Palmer earned the name Town of Seven Railroads honestly — the lines still cross here, and freight rolling through at night is part of the local soundtrack. Around all that are ordinary streets that want looking after: mowing, trimming, edging, mulch and spring and fall cleanups, from Depot Village up the hill roads. Winter turns the same route into plowing, walk shoveling and ice treatment on driveways and lots, usually finished by the time the coffee is on. Property maintenance is really a promise to come back — every week in summer, every storm in winter — and the result is a place that always looks tended. Palmer, Three Rivers, Thorndike, Bondsville, Monson, Ware and Wilbraham.