North of Ellaville the highway runs between fields that fog over on cool mornings, the clay showing red where the shoulders break. 1st Choice Lawn Services & Landscape LLC begins its days out that way, mowing, edging and trimming across the north side of town and the places set well back off the road. Southwest Georgia springs come early and stay long, so the cutting season opens here while much of the country is still waiting on it. A yard finished right announces itself from the mailbox: level grass, a held edge, nothing scattered on the drive. House by house, steady weekly care is what keeps a whole road looking well.