September light in Marseilles is a particular thing — thin and clear across the river, with the big oaks over at Illini State Park just starting to think about turning. Schmeckpeper lawn care likes that stretch of the year best, when the grass slows down enough to hold a mow but the mornings are still soft, and the work shifts from keeping up to finishing well. Mowing, trimming, edging back the borders, then raking and clearing the leaf as the oaks and maples let go of it week by week. Fall cleanup around here is not one job but a series, because a river-valley town gets its leaves delivered in installments and on the wind. Leaving a lawn combed out and open to the light before winter closes over it is the season's quiet reward.