October in Reed Township is the turn: cottonwood leaves down along the ditches, the last mow shorter than the rest, the trucks getting their plows hung. Nate's Lawn Services rides that line — mowing, edging, trimming and full cleanups while the season lasts, then driveway plowing, walkway clearing and ice control once the first real system tracks in off the plains. Out here between Braidwood and the river the wind has room, and a driveway will drift shut with a courtesy nobody asked for. Getting it open before the alarm goes off is the entire job. By April the shovels go back in the shed, the mower comes out, and it all begins again.