West of Winfield the land opens and the sky gets bigger; a July afternoon out that way is heat shimmer and cicadas until the sun drops flat and orange past West Chicago. Velazquez Mowing Co. works straight through the hottest weeks of that — mowing on schedule, trimming close where the machine cannot reach, edging the drives, and clearing the yard at both ends of the season. Midsummer grass has to be cut a little taller and a little more often, or the lawn tells on you by August. Keeping it green through the dry stretch is the part worth taking pride in. Winfield, with West Chicago, Warrenville, Wheaton and Carol Stream in reach.