Late September along Eighteenmile Creek is when the maples begin letting go, and every lawn in Lake View turns into as much hauling as cutting. Lake View Lawns keeps to that rhythm — mowing while the grass still wants to grow, then edging, trimming, and clearing the leaves off before they mat down and smother what's underneath. The best hour for it is the one near sundown, when the light comes low off the water and a freshly cut lawn holds the color a while longer than the sky does. A curb lined with tidy piles and a yard that can breathe again is a small thing, and it is also the whole point. Come spring the same lawns come back green, and the work starts over on the streets between the creek and the lake.