East of the city the Thornapple bends through Ada and the ground rolls up toward Cascade, and the winter light out there is a pale, almost silver thing. Oomkes Landscape Management runs snow along that stretch of Grand Rapids — curving residential drives, office frontages near the East Beltline, lots that need to be open before a single car arrives. Plowing is planning: where the piles go in December decides how much room is left in February. Salt goes down on the low spots at the bottom of a slope before meltwater can glaze them. It is unglamorous, pre-dawn work, and a lot cleared corner to corner is a quiet satisfaction that lasts all day.