The Florida Groundskeeper

About The Florida Groundskeeper

After a July thunderstorm in Riverview, white ibis wander across the wet lawns in loose flocks, probing the soft ground with their curved bills while steam rises off the pavement. The Florida Groundskeeper knows that scene well, because the rainy season is when grass in this corner of Hillsborough County grows hardest and needs the most attention. Between the afternoon storms there is a window of bright, heavy heat, and that window is for the work: mowing before the turf runs ahead, edging along the retention ponds and sidewalks, keeping clippings out of the storm drains. It is groundskeeping in the old, honest sense, showing up again and again so a property never gets the chance to look neglected. When the next cloud bank builds to the east, the yard is already trimmed, tidy and ready for the rain.