Boots on the Ground

About Boots on the Ground

Avoca is a Lawrence County town of springs and stone, where cold water runs out of the limestone and fills the ponds at the old state fish hatchery. Mornings here often begin in mist that lifts off the hollows and leaves every blade of grass beaded and bent. Boots on the Ground does its work at walking pace, mowing and trimming yards that tilt and dip with the karst hills beneath them. It takes a steady hand to cut a clean line across uneven ground, around stone steps and along gravel lanes. By noon the dew is gone, the yard stands even and bright, and the place feels settled into its hills again.