On summer mornings the Illinois River lays a low band of fog through Marseilles, and the yards up on the bluff come out of it wet and shining an hour before the ones down by the water. B C Mowing Service Inc works with that schedule, waiting for the blades to dry and then moving through town on a steady route — mowing, trimming tight to steps and hydrants, sweeping the walks clean at the end. River-town lots come in every shape, narrow and terraced and cut through with retaining walls, which makes a neat finish something you earn rather than something you set a machine to. The satisfaction is in the last look back down a street: even lines, sharp borders, nothing left on the sidewalk. Marseilles is a compact place, and details there are visible to everybody.