Lake Ontario writes the winters here. A squall gathers out over open water, comes ashore across Monroe County, and by two in the morning Brighton's driveways have disappeared under eight fresh inches. Dewis Plowing LLC is awake in that hour with the blade down and the beacons turning, working the side streets off Monroe Avenue while the rest of town sleeps through it. The reward is small and complete: pavement showing again before the first alarm rings, banks pushed back square, a walk to the door nobody has to guess at. Come daylight, people simply get in the car and go — which is the entire idea behind a snow removal business.