Randy's Rolloff

About Randy's Rolloff

Winter comes at Nokomis sideways — the fields lie bare for miles, so the wind picks up whatever fell and packs it into driveways and along the north side of every windbreak. Randy's Rolloff runs the plow through those nights, when the county roads narrow to one white lane and the drifts rebuild behind you. Getting a driveway open before the first alarm clock goes off in town is the whole ambition, and salt and a scraped walk take care of the rest so nobody starts the day on glass. Some storms are two inches and done; some are a three-visit night with the wind still working at four in the morning. From the town blocks out to the farm lanes toward Pana, the map in January is the same one, only whiter.