Grounds Crew

About Grounds Crew

At three in the morning the streetlights along Route 422 are the only thing moving besides the snow, and that is when Grounds Crew is already out. Snow removal is a business of hours almost nobody sees: the first pass down a driveway, the widening of it, the walk opened to the door, salt down before the melt refreezes. Palmyra storms tend to blow in across open valley farmland and pile against anything standing in the way, so the same lot may need working twice before sunrise. The measure of the night is simple — headlights backing out onto black pavement, and a household that never had to think about it. Then on to the next address, with the sky just starting to go gray.