Green-up reaches Pownal from the valley floor upward, arriving a week earlier down by the water than on the shoulder of Mount Anthony. Schaad Landscape Services follows it, starting the year's first cuts as the ground firms and the grass finds its color. From there it is steady mowing, trimming along walls and walks, and clippings cleared off where they would otherwise blow around. The spring cleanup comes before any of it — rake, haul, open the lawn back up to the light. The fall one closes the book: leaves gone, grass short, the yard ready for whatever comes down the valley.