By the middle of July the older streets on Springfield's west side hold their heat into the night, and the lawns behind those bungalows want cutting more than they want anything else. The route runs from the parkway strips out front to the narrow ground along the alleys, deck raised in the heat so the grass keeps its color through a dry week. Trimming tightens the line around clothesline poles, garage aprons and gate posts, and the front walk gets an edge straight as a ruled page. Come late fall it is leaves, pulled from under the hedges and off the drive before the first hard rain packs them flat. A yard on the schedule never looks rescued — it just always looks kept.