Breakfast

I read "Breakfast " written by John Steinbeck this week..
It is really short story but when I finished reading,, I was filled up with pleasure.
The main character, I, meet a family(it does not say it is a family but most likely so) on the way in the really cold morning and have breakfast together. They are not acquaintance or friends, they are just strangers each other.
But still, their conversation starts very naturally.
They say "Morning" each other and through the story, their talk is very friendly.
It is so natural that attracts the readers.
Also, description of  breakfast works very well to characterize this story.
I'll show that part below.
"The girl set out the platter of bacon, the brown high biscuits, a bowl of bacon gravy and pot of coffee..."
This sentence helps readers draw a picture of the story and also makes us hungry.
One of the important things here is that the situation is very cold morning.
I think we all love old morning and warm but simple breakfast.
I also noticed that there are three descriptions of the scenery and it changes as story goes.
First one is "The eastern mountains were black-blue, but behind them the light stood up faintly colored at the mountain rims with a washed res, growing colder, greyer and darker as it went up and overhead until, at a place the west, it merged with pure night." 
Second one is "There was color in the light now, reddish gleam that made the air seem colder." and the last one is "The air was blazing with light at the eastern skyline."
These sentences show the lapse of time and shows the man and changing of  "I" feeling.
As he meet this family, his heart becomes warm same as the atmosphere around.

Actually this story is about three pages only and I was surprised story can be made with such few words and sentences, make changes in the story and still can give readers impression.