All Around the House

About All Around the House

North of Lake Tuscaloosa the land climbs out of the water in long pine ridges, and Samantha sits up in that quiet — a scatter of homes and pasture strung along Highway 43. Mornings come in slow here, fog still lying in the low spots when the first cut of the day begins. All Around the House keeps those yards mowed and edged, the string trimmer run out to every fence post and mailbox, the clippings blown off the drive before the truck moves on. There is a plain satisfaction in the moment a lawn goes from shaggy to squared-off: the pass lines drawn straight, the border sharp where grass meets gravel. It is ordinary work done carefully, on ground that has been growing the same thick green since long before any of us got here.