February in Romeo begins in the dark, well before the first car turns onto Van Dyke and long before the orchard rows north of the village take shape out of the gray. DeClark's Landscaping Inc. is out in that hour with a blade down, opening driveways and lots so the day can start on time, walks cleared wide enough to carry groceries through. Come May the same properties want something gentler: mowing on a regular rhythm, edges held sharp, beds shaped and mulched, shrubs kept in bounds. There is a particular pride in pulling away from a plowed drive at daybreak and seeing bare pavement where three inches sat an hour ago. Between the snow country north of the village and the neighborhoods running toward Washington, it is the same job in two languages, winter and green.