October takes the cottonwoods along the San Rafael ditches to a yellow you can spot from the highway, then hands the whole lot of it to the ground in about a week. Frost comes early in this valley under the Zuni Mountains, so autumn runs on a short clock: leaves raked and carted away, the last mows put down while the grass is still growing, borders cleared, spent stalks cut back before they go brittle. Beds are emptied of the season and left ready. The trimming gets finished around posts and walls, where leaves love to pack themselves in tight. When it is done the yard sits clean under low light, and winter has nothing left to bury.