Brandon Smith

About Brandon Smith

Out in northern Scott County, McCausland sits on open farmland with the Wapsipinicon bottoms to the north and the Mississippi only a short drive east. Brandon Smith plows and shovels out driveways and walks when winter blows hard off the fields. Snow on this flat ground tends to travel sideways, and drifts love a driveway with nothing to break the wind. Clearing it right means more than one pass; it means pushing the banks back so the next blow does not close the gap. The hope each time is simple: a neighbor stepping out into the cold to find the way already open.