Spring arrives up the Etowah headwaters in a rush, and by April the Dawson County hills are loud with the water coming off Amicalola. Silver City Tree Service spends those weeks in the foothills, pruning young hardwoods into good shape, trimming crowns back off rooflines before the leaves get heavy, and removing the pines that came through winter leaning wrong. Storms cross these ridges without much warning, so cleanup is a standing part of the calendar: limbs cut, brush chipped, a driveway cleared before the school bus comes through. The mountains give this town its steep, awkward lots, and there is pride in doing neat work on ground that refuses to be level. A yard here ought to feel open to the sky and firmly held to the hill at the same time.