October in Lakewood hands out a particular blue — thin, high and cloudless, with the Dakota hogback going gold above Alameda Parkway. Blue Sky Landscape works under it, closing out the mowing season with cuts that drop lower as the light gets shorter. Trimming, edging, and the long patient haul of leaf and clipping cleanup before the first hard cold arrives. There is pride in a yard put to bed properly: beds cleared, borders sharp, the turf lying flat and ready to wait. When the wind comes down off the ridge, it finds nothing left to scatter.