Out at Ball the roads run on the section grid, a mile at a time, and the yards sit inside windbreaks of pine and hedge with black prairie soil starting where the mowing stops. Hatalla Lawn Maintenance works those lawns — mowing, trimming, edging, and the cleanups that open and close the season. There is a great deal of sky in this part of Illinois, and a lawn cut in the long evening light shows every band the deck laid down. Rain arrives all at once here and then stays away for a fortnight, so the rounds follow the grass rather than the calendar.