Stronghurst is an elevator, a rail line, and then corn in every direction until the ground tips toward the Mississippi bluffs. Plate Services Inc mows the yards in that wide western Illinois quiet — cutting, string trimming around posts and foundations, edging walks and drives, and cleaning up so the finish carries. Wind is a constant out here; it dries a lawn early and scatters clippings late, and both facts change how a pass gets set up. In June the beans come up and the whole county turns one shade of green, house lots included. There is a satisfaction, where you can see for miles, in a yard that ends in a straight line.