October out toward Newport is all dust and low sun — combines working the bean fields, stubble rows running to the horizon, and road frontage that seems to double in length once it's yours to mow. McCoy and Son's Advanced Lawn Services covers that kind of property: ditch banks trimmed, culvert ends cleared, lawns cut and edged out to the point where the yard finally decides to become a field. When the fields go bare and the wind swings around, the work turns with it — plowing drives, opening the turnaround by the barn, clearing walks after each storm. Rural places are their own problem in winter, since the drive is long and there's nobody next door to bail you out. Getting them open, early and all the way through, is the measure of the day.