By noon in July the heat stands still over the Little River arm, cicadas going in the pines, and the only cool thing for a mile is the shade a hardwood throws across a cut lawn. H&F LAWNCARE LLC works right through it — mowing, edging, trimming around posts and foundations, blowing the clippings off the drive so the red clay dust is the only thing left on the truck. Lincolnton grass grows hard in that weather, and keeping ahead of it is half the job; the other half is the finish, the part somebody notices from the porch at supper. Beds get freshened, borders get held to their lines, and fall brings the leaves down all at once the way they always do. It is plain work, done well, on ground that never really stops growing.