Winter is serious business above Lake Hopatcong: nine hundred feet of elevation, a wind off the water, and driveways that pitch down toward Howard Boulevard like ski runs. Mason & Co Landscaping is out in the dark for it — plowing, clearing walks and steps, salting the grades where a car would otherwise sit and spin. The other half of the year belongs to lawns: mowing, edging, trimming, and cleanups at both ends of the season. Working a hill town means knowing which drives ice first and which lawns dry last, and that knowledge is most of the job. Getting somebody safely down their own driveway at six in the morning is a good way to spend a winter.