October belongs to the maples on Otsego's side streets — a week of color, then one windy night, then leaves in every corner of every yard. Damber Tree and Yard Service LLC handles that season from the top down: limbs pruned back off the roofline, deadwood taken out, whole trees removed when they have finished, and the brush cleared away so the yard reads as done. The rest of the year it is mowing and yard work, staying ahead of the growth a river town gets in June. Working above a house in Allegan County teaches patience and a careful eye, and the reward is a clean lawn under a tree that finally has room to breathe. Otsego, Plainwell and the countryside around them are where the ladders go up.