A Monday in Wallingford starts on one side of town and finishes on the other. This is property maintenance work — a standing list of lawns and grounds looked after on schedule, mowed and trimmed and edged, beds mulched, walks blown off, small problems caught while they are still small. Some weeks the route swings past Simpson Park, where the ballfield grass smells like the entire season at once. The town's mix of village lots, condominium greens and long suburban frontages means every stop keeps its own rhythm, and holding all of them at the same standard on the same week is the actual skill. By Friday the whole list is standing even, and then it begins again.