The Merrimack runs tidal past Amesbury, and in April it carries the last of the ice out under the Chain Bridge while the lawns above the bank start to wake. Lawn Hopper meets the year at both ends — mowing, trimming, edging and cleanups once the ground firms, then plowing, shoveling and salting once the cold comes back around. Spring cleanup is the honest start: sand raked out, winter litter gone, the grass suddenly standing up green. Winter asks a different kind of attention, most of it before sunrise and most of it unseen. A drive opened before the coffee is poured and a lawn cut in clean parallel lines are really the same job — making a place easy to live in.