Early autumn mornings in Waterloo arrive with mist standing on the water at Lakeside Park and the smell of cut grass still warm from the day before. Lakeside Lawn Services runs the town's yards on that calendar — mowing and trimming while the season lasts, edges held along walks and drives, aeration and overseeding once the nights cool off, then leaf cleanup when the hardwoods start letting go. The old brick-front streets near the courthouse and the newer lots out past them all take the same care. There is something plain and good about walking a finished yard at dusk, everything level and the clippings gone. Then the first frost comes and the year closes politely.