Spring reaches Alanson on its own schedule, weeks after downstate has already mowed twice; the cold settles into the low ground toward Pellston and refuses to leave. Shugar-Mills Landscaping And Cleaning Inc. waits it out, then moves fast once the season finally opens — mowing, trimming, edging, and raking out everything winter left behind. Between the hardwood ridges and US-31, yards up here range from a village square of grass to long lots under the pines, and each is cut to suit. By midsummer the whole business is rhythm: one route, one week, back again. A lawn kept even all season looks effortless, which is exactly the point.