Fog sits in the coves of Lake Lanier most mornings until the sun burns down through it, and by then Baten Lawn Care Flowery Branch is already at work. This is a railroad town — the old depot, the tracks running straight through the middle — and the yards climb away from the water on red-clay slopes that want a mower steered with some sense. The routine is mowing, edging, trimming around mailboxes and lakeside steps, then clearing every clipping off the drive before pulling away. Spring is dogwood and pine pollen; October sets the hills above the water alight and the leaves have to come off the turf. What lasts is a lot cut clean to the property line with the shoreline behind it.