Down at Lakemont the air in August is thick enough to feel, and thunder walks the ridges most afternoons around four. Marcelino Landscaping works the hours ahead of it — mowing lawns around Clayton, trimming along creek banks and fence rows, edging where grass creeps over concrete, and blowing the drive clean before the first drops hit. Grass in this humidity grows like it means to take the place back, so the schedule keeps moving. Finishing a yard just as the sky opens is its own small victory. The cut holds; the rain only makes it greener.