On a July night the air out toward the Mississippi bottoms below Murphysboro is thick enough to lean on, and the grass keeps right on growing in the dark. Matt's Lawn and Order handles the summer half of that bargain, mowing, edging, trimming, feeding, and hauling off whatever the season drops. Then the wind swings around off the river, the bottoms go gray, and the same outfit is out plowing drives and salting walks before daylight. Southern Illinois does not hand anybody a long winter, but the one it hands over can be sharp and sudden. Either season the standard holds: a straight line, a clean edge, a clear path.