Winter reaches New London off the water first — a wind that comes up the Thames past the light on the ledge and leaves the granite hills of the city white by morning. The Grounds, Up! works those hours, while the storm is still stacking on driveways and the plow beam is the only moving light on the street. Clearing snow here means knowing which slopes hold ice long after the sun is up, and which walks near the harbor take the salt wind straight on. The job is done when a driveway is open to bare pavement, the walk is cut square to its edges, and nobody has to think about the night before. There is real pride in that: a clean apron of blacktop, a clear path to the door, a New London street ready before the day starts.