The road west out of Americus toward Plains runs between peanut fields that go silver when the wind crosses them, and in July the heat stands up off the asphalt by nine in the morning. Gomez Lawn care services works straight through it — mowing, trimming, edging, beds cleared, clippings and limbs carried off, drives and walkways blown down at the end. Summer here is one long season with no gaps in it, so the route repeats week after week and the yards stay even. There's pride in a lawn that never gets away from you, that holds the same height and the same lines from May to September. Cold drink, tailgate down, next house.