Winter mornings come into the Verde Valley thin and bright, frost silvering the gravel and the depot still while the canyon line waits for its train. Western Landscapes is out in that hour early, cutting back frost-bitten growth, raking beds and clearing what autumn tucked against fences. Warm months bring the regular rhythm of mowing and edging, and the walk from truck to gate over ground that crunches underfoot. Out toward Peck's Lake the cottonwoods drop everything at once, and hauling it away is half the work and most of the result. Clarkdale is home ground, with the rounds continuing into Cottonwood and up the lower slopes toward Jerome.