Four in the morning, twelve degrees, the streetlights doing that orange thing through blowing snow. Truck's running. Blade's down. JBsnow plows Sault Ste. Marie driveways and small lots in the dark hours so the day can start on time — clearing drives and aprons, opening the walkways, working down the ice at the bottom of a slope. Winter here is long and stubborn and not inclined to negotiate. So you meet it early, every storm, and the driveway is open before anybody has to think about it.