The first real storm usually shows up in November, and it announces itself at three in the morning with a sound like nothing at all. Iron Cross Services Company is out in it by then, headlights crawling the side streets off Federal Boulevard while the rest of Westminster sleeps under a fresh six inches. Lots get opened, aprons get cut back to the curb, and the walks are cleared before anyone has to step off a porch and guess. Cold that early is a serious thing, so the work is quick, deliberate and finished properly — no half-scraped corners left to freeze solid. The payoff arrives at sunrise, when the whole route looks like an ordinary dry morning.