February mornings on the gravel lanes outside Mount Vernon start out blue — no color anywhere yet, only snow, fence wire and the shape of a barn. Heck's Excavating comes down them with a loader, lifting the drifts off the shoulders and stacking them where they will not slide back by afternoon. Heavy equipment earns its keep on long farm drives, deep pushes and lot work no pickup blade will finish. Ice underneath gets treated, corners get opened wide enough for a grain truck, and the way out stays a way out. By the time the sun clears the treeline the road is a road again.