By late February the snow in Galesburg has been through a dozen thaws and refreezes, and what is left along the drives is less powder than armor. todd's snow plowing works that end of the season hardest — out before sunrise while the eastern sky over the fields goes pink and everything underfoot is glazed and unforgiving. Scraping down to bare pavement matters more now than in December, because a rutted drive will hold its shape until spring if it is allowed to set. Salt is put where the melt runs and refreezes overnight, at the foot of a slope, along the shaded north side of a house. The last storms of a Michigan winter are the ones people remember, and they go easier when the drive is already open.