December light in Cherry Valley is thin and blue and gone by half past four, which is why the plowing gets started long before the alarm clocks do. Andy's Professional Landscaping clears drives, lots and walkways through the winter and salts the places where meltwater sneaks back at night to freeze solid. Once the ground finally thaws, the work turns to mowing and trimming, and the turf gets brought back into line for another year. Between the edge of Rockford and the open country east of town, the weather can be two different things ten minutes apart, so the trucks stay loaded either way. Neither half of the year gets to catch this place unready.