October in Nicholson turns dry and gold, the evening light going long over the old rail line that gave this town its first reason to exist. Georgia Bark & Mulch Co is out in it for the closing mows of the year, cutting a touch higher, running the edger sharp along the walks, gathering the leaves that drift in from the hardwood fence rows. There is a satisfying order to a yard put to bed properly: beds cleared, borders defined, the last of the summer's overgrowth carried away. Come the following spring the same lawns wake up under a warmer sun and the schedule picks back up without ceremony, mowing and trimming week on week. Small-town yards are seen by everyone who passes, and a neat one is quietly generous to the whole road.