West of Vandalia the corn runs on until it meets the sky, and the mowing season follows that same long rhythm, beginning in April and stopping only when the frost says so. Virgil Richards Mowing keeps to it with regular cuts, trimming around trees, posts and foundations, edging along drives and walks, and a clean blow-off so nothing is left sitting on the concrete. Evening is the hour for looking at finished work, when the light comes in low across a yard and every stripe stands up. Cleanup work opens the year and closes it, the winter's litter first and then the oak and maple leaves at the end. A lawn cut on time all summer carries itself differently come October, and that difference is the whole point.