Winter storms reach Farmingdale off the Atlantic, and a few miles inland is exactly the distance that turns a cold rain at the shore into something worth plowing here. CNC Landscape and Tree Service watches that line closely, out through the night to clear driveways and lots, scrape the walks along the borough's short grid, and lay salt where the shade holds ice. When the ground thaws the work turns to mowing and trimming and hauling off the debris of the growing season, week in and week out. Farmingdale is a compact place, an old riverside crossroads with a downtown you can walk end to end, and word travels between neighbors fast. Waking to an open driveway and a clear walk is a small mercy, and it is the whole point of being awake at three.