The shanty village appears out on the ice sometime after New Year's, and by then Escanaba and Gladstone are deep into the long business of pushing snow — plowing, shoveling walks, opening driveways and lots after every system that comes through. Whites Lawn Service works that stretch and the green one too: mowing kept on schedule, trimming, edging, and the cleanups that open and close the growing season. October is the busiest hinge of all, leaves coming down while the plow gear comes back out of the shed. Nothing in Delta County stays the same for long, and the work honestly follows it. An open drive in January and a sharp-cut lawn in July come from the very same habit of showing up.