An ice storm in Stephenson County makes a sound nobody forgets — the whole crown ringing like glass, and then the crack. Fransen's Tree Service works the days that come after: storm damage cleanup on the streets above Yellow Creek, removals where a trunk has split clean to the heart, and pruning that brings the survivors back into balance. Freeport grew its shade along the Pecatonica bends and up the hills west of town, and old wood like that is far better thinned before a winter than after one. It is good to stand in a January yard where the light falls even through the branches and nothing overhead is waiting to come down. Lena, Cedarville, Pearl City and Orangeville are all inside a morning's drive.