July on the north end of Battle Creek is heat shimmer over asphalt and the smell of cut grass hanging in it until evening. ROUGH CUT LAWN CARE L.L.C spends those afternoons behind the mower — deck set right, the trim line following the foundation, the drive blown off so the sidewalk reads sharp from the street. Rough cut is only the name; the finish is the point. When the calendar turns and those same streets go white overnight, the work becomes plowing and shoveling, the drive opened before anybody's alarm goes off. One town, two sets of tools, the same lot cared for from the first mow to the last push of the blade.