By the middle of June the corn stands taller than the fence posts around Gridley, and every yard in the village is trying to keep up with it. L & M Lawn Care holds that growth in order — mowing on a steady week, trimming close around porch posts and mailboxes, edging the walk so the line between grass and concrete reads sharp from the street. When the thunderheads stack up west of town on a July evening, the yards are already cut and the clippings swept off the drive. Then the year turns, and those same drives get plowed and salted while the fields go bare and blue-white to the horizon. Two seasons, one small town, and a place that looks looked-after in both.