A green yard in July is a small miracle this far north, and holding onto one takes attention — weekly mowing, trimming tight to the walk, edges kept honest along the driveways off Stephenson Avenue. Escanaba hands out about five months to grow in and the rest to be dug out of, so the work simply changes tools. When the drives and lots go white, the blade goes down: plowing, shoveling the walks, keeping ice knocked back from the places people actually step. The pleasure is identical in either season — a property that plainly looks tended, whether that means a sharp-cut lawn in August or an open driveway before the coffee is poured.