Pekin is a town of brick — old streets, stone steps, foundations laid long before anyone thought about where a plow would go. Force Masonry Construction takes on the snow when the season shuts the rest of the year down, clearing drives, walks and front steps across town. Stone and concrete hold the cold long after the air has given up, and a set of packed steps is the last thing anywhere to let go. The work is plain enough: push it back, scrape it down, open the path from the street to the door. Then it goes quiet, and the brick shows dark and wet in the low winter light.