Oquaga Creek comes down its narrow valley into Deposit with the light already going gold behind the ridge. D&L Lawncare times the last mow of the day to that hour, when the air cools and the stripes lie down flat across a yard. Trimming close to fence posts and stone steps is the part nobody notices unless it gets skipped, so it never does. By January the work turns to plowing — driveways opened wide, walkways cut to the door, a second pass after the wind fills the first one back in. Same crew, same roads, two very different kinds of quiet.