There is a particular blue January light over the Delaware at Duck Island, cold as the water itself, and the wind off that bend finds its way clear across Hamilton. Peppers Landscaping is out in it — plowing driveways, clearing walks and steps, salting the surfaces that refreeze once the sun goes down. Wind counts as much as snowfall here, because a drive opened at six can drift half shut by nine, and the second pass is part of the work rather than an extra. Ice gets its own attention: the shaded strip beside the garage, the low spot at the end of the front walk. Winter in this township is short on drama and long on repetition, and it rewards whoever keeps showing up.