A nor'easter announces itself over Bridgeport's North End an hour before it arrives — the light goes flat, the wind swings around, and the high ground up by Success Hill starts to whiten first. Fairfield County Groundskeeping reads that sky and stages for it, then runs the routes through the dark: driveways plowed back to full width, turnarounds opened, walkways and steps shoveled so the first person out the door has somewhere to put a foot. On the ridge streets the drifts rebuild after the wind shifts, so the route gets run a second time. Storms that cross the Sound arrive dense and wet, which only makes an open driveway more welcome. Clearing snow is a small promise, kept early.