A clipper crosses mid-Michigan in the small hours with almost no warning, and Davison Township wakes to four inches it did not have at bedtime. Davison Outdoor is already out in it — headlights swinging through the cul-de-sacs, blade down, cutting the first clean lane of the day. There is a particular pleasure in a driveway opened square to the garage door, the walk shoveled, the apron pushed back far enough that the next storm has somewhere to go. Genesee County winters are gray and long and rarely dramatic, which is exactly why the clearing has to be dependable rather than heroic. Snow removal done right is invisible: the car backs out, the day happens.