South of Newburgh the Highlands close in, Storm King shouldering over 9W and the river narrowing to pewter under a low sky. Ruger Landscaping and Snow Plowing reads that horizon for a living, because storms that stack against those hills tend to sit down and deliver. Plowing, driveway and lot clearing, walkway shoveling, salt and sand: simple to list, stubborn to do, hour after hour while the wipers lose ground. There is a particular pleasure in the last pass of the night, when a drive that was knee-deep at midnight is a clean rectangle by five and the banks are stacked where they won't blind anyone pulling out. Then the truck turns for the next address, and Newburgh wakes up able to leave the house.