Out along the Kickapoo Creek bottoms the July heat pools and holds, so the good hour comes late — six, seven in the evening, when shade finally crosses the yard. Daves Lawn Maintenance takes that hour: mowing, string-trimming down to the creek-side fence line, edging the drive, clearing the walks while the cicadas wind up in the timber. Grass grows hard in a central Illinois midsummer, inches between visits once a thunderstorm rolls through from the west. Keeping ahead of it is the work, and holding the schedule is the craft. The last pass often finishes in that long blue light before dark, the lawn striped and gone quiet.