August in Alma is one long, bright afternoon with a storm somewhere behind it. Massas Lawn Services reads that sky and gets the mowing, edging, and trimming in while the light holds, then blows the drive clean so the first rain can't paste clippings to the concrete. Centipede and bahia take the heat here in Bacon County and repay a regular cut with a dense, even carpet under the live oaks. The pleasure is in the edge — a hard, straight line where turf meets sidewalk, carried all the way around the house without a wobble. When the yard is done, the truck loads up and heads for the next one, out past the county line toward Hazlehurst and Blackshear.