observant
This entire excerpt is a description of what the speaker is observing about the setting. He lists all of the different things that he can see such as the streets, houses, and vehicles. He also talks about things he can see that are a little farther off such as the village, the river, and the schooner bobbing on the tide. There is no feeling that there is something tragic happening or personal from this excerpt. Even though the speaker is distant from some of the things he sees, he's still describing things he is seeing which makes observant a better fit for the tone.