The prairie under Erie makes a stubborn student — thin soil, dry air, and a growing season squeezed between late frost and early snow. Professor Wiseacres takes the lesson happily: mowing, trimming and edging on a schedule the grass can actually keep, plus the cleanups that hand a yard a fresh start twice a year. Summer mornings are the good hour here, cool and clear with the peaks cut sharp along the west. By the time the mower is loaded, the lawn stands even, the borders are drawn, and the walk is swept clean. Curriculum complete, more or less, until next week's session.