Down at Tottenville the island runs out — Raritan Bay on one side, the Arthur Kill on the other, and a nor'easter arriving off the water long before the rest of the borough hears about it. Chicos Cleanup Corporation meets it there, plowing driveways and lots, shoveling walkways and steps and the ground around the mailbox, salting and sanding, then coming back for whatever the bay wind rebuilt. Storms at the southern end keep their own counsel, so the schedule bends to the weather instead of the other way around. What stays with you is the finished driveway — edges squared, walk swept — while the shore trees are still shedding their load. That is a good thing to leave behind you.