A nor'easter reaching Douglaston and Little Neck announces itself over the water first — the Sound goes gray, the wind swings around, and the marsh grass at Udalls Cove lies flat. Creative Snow By Cow Bay meets it with plows, shovels and salt: driveways and walks opened, lots cleared, ice broken off the shaded north sides that never see January sun. This corner of Queens is all slopes running down to the shore, and a driveway on a grade is its own problem, solved with the right approach angle and enough salt and sand to hold a car. Sixteen hours later the storm goes back out to sea and the streets look like an entirely different day.