October is the honest month out here. The oaks and hickories let go all at once, the grass finally slows, and a yard asks for a different kind of attention: the last cuts of the year, the trimming and edging tightened up, the leaves and cuttings carried off before they mat down for the winter. Every season before that it is the plain steady round — mow, trim, edge, clear, come back. The land around Carterville rolls just enough that every property is its own puzzle, and maintenance means learning that puzzle and keeping it solved. When the mower goes away in November, the lawn ought to already be pointed at spring.