Late afternoon in Tecolote Canyon the light turns sideways and every blade of a freshly mown lawn throws its own small shadow. Canyon Creek Landscape Service works toward that hour — mowing, edging, trimming hedges and shrubs, sweeping the walks before packing up. Goleta gives a crew a long working year and almost no frost, so the calendar is really one continuous round of upkeep. Yard cleanups take care of whatever the wind brought down; the rest is patient repetition. The measure of a good day is a street where you can tell exactly which houses were visited.