By February the bay has gone white to the horizon past Wenonah Park, and Bay City wakes to whatever the night left in the driveway. Rich's Lawn & Garden handles that part of the year: plowing drives down to pavement, cutting through the bank the city truck leaves at the end of the apron, shoveling the walk and the steps to bare footing, and salting the places where ice keeps coming back. Lake-effect here arrives sideways and often, so the route runs again and again, sometimes twice before dark. There is a particular pleasure in a cleared driveway at daybreak: black asphalt, sharp banks, and a car that leaves on time. Winter in Bay County is long, and it goes easier when someone is out early with a blade.