October in Cass County smells like cut grass and apples at the same time — the orchard rows west of Dowagiac hanging heavy, the lawns still growing, the light going amber by four o'clock. MTL Landscaping works both ends of that turn: the final mowings and leaf cleanups, then the first plow once the ground goes hard and white. Winter arrives here in bursts out of the northwest, and a driveway opened wide and square is worth more than anything else that morning. Shoveled walks, salt on the steps, a clear path down to the road. Come April the mower comes back out and the whole circle begins again.