October on the slopes above Vale turns the whole hillside loose at once, and for a few weeks the work is nothing but leaves. Brennan Landscaping Inc. runs that stretch hard — cleanups taken down to the grass, beds cut back, lawns closed out while the ground is still workable. Then the trucks change over and the same properties get plowed: drives opened early, entries salted, banks set where the melt will not run back across the pavement. Summer is the steady half of the year, mowing and trimming and edging on a dependable turn. Around Schenectady it makes one long circle, and they would rather be the ones who know a yard all the way around it.