October on the Illinois River: barges push slow past the elevators, the air smells like drying corn, and the cottonwoods let go of everything at once. Medrano's Yard Scape Services runs the season out with final mows, mulch refreshed, and leaves hauled off lawn after lawn until the grass can breathe again. It is unfussy work and it shows immediately — a property stripped clean before the first hard freeze. Weeks later, when white arrives across town overnight, the same trucks are out plowing driveways, clearing walks and laying salt so the morning can start on time.