EMBER

About EMBER

January nights on the Illinois side of the river have an hour all their own — three in the morning, ice fog off the Mississippi, the road out toward Andalusia gone white and perfectly silent. EMBER is awake in it, plow down, headlights swinging across driveways that have to be open before anyone reaches for their keys. Drives and lots get pushed back to pavement, walks and steps shoveled down to the surface, and salt laid where meltwater will refreeze before sunrise. The reward is a small sound: a car pulling out easy onto a street that fought back for three hours. Snow removal and ice control for South Rock Island, Milan and the neighboring Quad Cities communities.