First light over the Ipswich River meadows, fog lying flat in the low ground by Thunder Bridge, and for about twenty minutes Middleton looks like a watercolor someone left out overnight. Servizio Landscaping is usually out in it — September mornings with the mowers cooling in wet grass, January mornings with a blade down and those same meadows gone white and soundless. Warm weather here means mowing, edging, trimming and the cleanups that keep a property looking looked-after; cold weather means driveways opened, walks cleared, salt where ice sets up in the shade. The fog burns off by eight, the yards come out sharp-edged, and the day gets going. Working a town this close to its own river gives the year a rhythm you can feel in your hands.