Cordele wakes up early because the highways do — US-41 and I-75 cross here in Crisp County, and there is traffic sound on the air before there is sun on the grass. Cordele Lawn Patrol is out in that hour, mowing, edging, trimming, and blowing the walks clean while the dew still holds the dust down. A patrol is a route, and a route is exactly what keeps a yard from ever looking left behind: the same streets, the same week, the same even height. There is a plain pride in pulling away from a stop and seeing the mower lines run straight to the curb. Cordele, Vienna, Arabi and Ashburn all get that same early start.