In early October the color starts at the top of the mountain and walks downhill a few hundred feet a week until it reaches the yards around Hiawassee. Seasons Change follows it down — the last close cuts of the year, leaves cleared off the turf before they mat, beds tidied ahead of the cold. Oaks hold on long after the maples let go, so the work arrives in rounds rather than one big afternoon. Nothing shows off a mountain lawn like raking it clean with the ridges standing bare and blue behind it. When the mild weather returns, the same yards get their first cut and the whole circle starts over.