South Wilmington is a small square of brick and shade set in Grundy County's black ground, and by June the grass grows like it means to take the place back. Mowing follows the old village grid — deep front lawns, alley strips, the ditch banks that run out toward the strip-pit ponds and the low country along Mazon Creek. The work is a cut on the week, trimming close around fence posts and porch piers, and edging the walk until the line reads sharp from the street. In fall the clippings give way to leaves, hauled off before rain mats them down. Late in the day, when the light goes long and gold across a fresh cut, a yard looks the way its owner has been picturing it — which is the reason for the trip.