Lake-effect snow does not fall on Pomfret so much as pour off Erie in bands — three inches an hour on one street and blue sky two miles inland. Ground Maintenance works the dark side of those nights: plowing driveways, clearing walks and steps, opening a way to the road before the first school bus grinds up the hill. There is a particular quiet at four in the morning with the plow light swinging and the squall thinning out over the ridge. By breakfast the drive is black pavement again and the day can start on time. That is the entire point of the job, and it is a good one.