A nor'easter announces itself over Raritan Bay hours before it reaches Port Reading — the wind swings, the gulls go inland, and the yards along the Arthur Kill turn a flat pewter. Big Top Contractors runs snow removal in Woodbridge Township, which means the two o'clock hour belongs to them: blade down, headlights full of falling flakes, one pass and then another. Snow that comes off the water is heavy and wet, the kind that packs at the apron and freezes to glass by daybreak. Moving it properly is a matter of getting there early and coming back once the wind has had its say. By the time the first shift heads for the Turnpike ramps, the lots are open.