August in Rockmart is a long, still oven — heat shimmering off Highway 278, the pines offering exactly one strip of shade per yard. Fatboy Lawncare LLC works through it anyway, water jug sweating in the truck, cutting a little higher so the grass can hold its color. Cutting, edging and trimming, with the clippings cleared off before anyone leaves, right through the part of summer nobody volunteers for. There is a certain pride in leaving a crisp edge behind on a day like that, when everything else looks tired. Come the first cool morning in September, the yards on the route are ready for it.