At quarter to five the Route 9 corridor belongs to delivery trucks and to outfits like G Gonzalez Landscaping LLC, headlights out ahead of the day. Summer mornings that means mowers off the trailer at first light, trimming and edging while the air is still cool enough to work hard in. Winter mornings it means a blade down and a driveway opened before anyone upstairs has stirred, salt on the walk, the front steps scraped. Snow reaches Lakewood wet off the water and turns heavy within the hour, so early is not a preference here, it is the method. Either way the day begins the same: dark outside, coffee in hand, a list of streets.