Palatine keeps its old oaks — out at Deer Grove the woods were left standing before the subdivisions ever arrived, and the trees in town carry the same heavy, low-branched habit. Brown Tree Service Inc works among them: pruning that respects an oak's slow way of healing, tree trimming to lift a canopy off a roof or a driveway, tree removal when a tree has become a hazard over the house. When an ice storm sets in across northwest Cook County and branches start letting go in the dark, storm damage cleanup is a drive cleared before the school bus and a lawn combed clean of splinters. The surest sign of the work is that the yard looks untouched and the tree looks relieved. Around here shade is inherited, and somebody has to look after it.