North of Potsdam the roads run straight through dairy country toward Norwood and Madrid, and out there the sky takes up most of the view. Frenchie's construction and Landscaping keeps the yards and drives along those roads in order all year — mowing, trimming and edging through the green months, plowing and shoveling once the St. Lawrence Valley turns white. In December the dark comes down by four in the afternoon, which makes a cleared, salted driveway worth a great deal to whoever pulls in. In July it is the smell of fresh-cut grass and a lawn brought back to a straight edge along the road. Storm-by-storm calls and season-long service both fit the way people live here. It is outdoor work in a place that asks plenty of it.