Beards and Builds

About Beards and Builds

Snow reaches the Berks County uplands quietly, first along Ironstone Creek, then out across the fields toward Boyertown until the red barns are only outlines. Beards and Builds works the hours nobody else wants, running the plow down driveways and lots, opening walks and steps, spreading salt where the cold has glazed the pavement. Storm nights run long out here, and the goal is plain: the drive open before the first alarm goes off, the path to the door safe in the dark. Township lanes narrow and drift, so passes get pushed wide and the piles set where they won't slide back by morning. Come daylight it looks as though nothing happened, which is the whole point.