December in this corner of Georgia is thin and bright — frost on the windshield at seven, gone by nine, and the low sun coming in over the river bottoms west of town. The Grass Professionals keep working through it, because a dormant lawn still needs the leaves off it and the borders still need a line. Mowing tapers, leaf removal takes over, and the trimming and edging go on so that when green-up arrives in spring the yard is not starting from a mess. Clearing a lawn down to clean turf on a cold morning, breath showing, blower humming, is oddly good work. Come April the properties that were tended all winter are the first ones on the street to come all the way back.