On Route 23 south of Sycamore you can watch weather arrive an hour before it gets to you — a dark line above the corn, then wind, then everything at once. Marcs Lawn Service plans the whole year around that sky. The warm months are mowing, trimming and cleanups on a steady loop through town and out toward Waterman. The cold months belong to the plow: driveways opened, walkways scraped, salt down before the afternoon melt refreezes at dusk. Living on open prairie means somebody has to be up early, and there is a quiet pride in being that somebody.