Morning on the Pagosa Lakes arrives with mist lying flat on Lake Hatcher and the mowers not yet running. Payne Landscaping starts the day out there, mowing and edging yards that step down toward the water through scrub oak and pine. At this altitude a lawn is a small act of persistence — the season is short, the nights stay cool, and the grass has to be coaxed rather than hurried along. Which is exactly why a well-kept yard in Pagosa Springs reads as effort, plainly visible from the street. By midday the mist has burned off and the lines are laid.