A house on one of Collinsville's older streets tends to sit close to the sidewalk, porch first, with a bed of shrubs holding the line between the two. Work like this starts at that line — beds shaped, mulch laid dark and even, shrubs cut back so the porch can breathe again. Then the lawn: mowed to an honest height, trimmed around the downspouts and the mailbox post, edged until the concrete looks newly poured. Spring comes fast in this part of Illinois, one warm week and everything moves at once, and autumn gives back a long gold season of leaves off the maples. A home is the whole point of the name, and the yard is the first room of it.