East of town the Middle Fork threads through timber, and the places out that way keep lawns big enough to lose an afternoon in. Hammel Excavation & Landscaping mows that kind of acreage, long open passes around the house and outbuildings, close trimming at the windbreak, and a tidy-up after the storms that roll through late in August. Grass grown on this black prairie soil comes back thick after every rain, so the schedule is less about ambition than about being there on the day. There is a particular pleasure in finishing a wide yard as the heat breaks, the cut running true and the gravel swept back to gravel while the tree line stands over all of it. Come November the leaves are gathered and moved before winter presses them into the turf.