A nor'easter announces itself over the Great South Bay hours before it lands — the wind swings around, the gulls go inland, and Islip falls quiet under the first hard flakes. SnowScape Snow Removal works the far end of that night, plowing driveways and lots while the streetlights are still the only light on the block. Snow this close to the water comes down wet and heavy, packing at the apron and glazing over by first light, so walks are cleared and treated rather than simply pushed aside. By the time the earliest cars nose toward Sunrise Highway, the driveway is open from curb to garage door and the front steps are bare again. There is a particular pride in that: a storm that turns out to be nothing more than weather.