Winter arrives in Dixon on a northwest wind that has crossed a hundred miles of open field before it finds a driveway to fill. Sauk Valley Lawn and Landscaping works the dark hours against it, plowing and clearing so the pavement is bare and passable before the first headlights turn onto the street. At four in the morning the Rock River lies black under the bridges and the town is still asleep, which is the whole point: nobody should have to meet a drift on the way to work. When the ground softens again the same trucks come back for mowing, trimming and edging, and the yards get their shape handed back to them week by week. There is a plain satisfaction in a lot swept down to the asphalt in February and a lawn cut straight to the walk in July.