Spring along the Flat River comes up green from the bottom, marsh first, then the yards on the high ground above Gowen. Earth Service Inc meets it with mowing and trimming, edges tidied, the winter's litter raked off the grass before the first real cut. Sandy Montcalm ground grows a particular kind of lawn — thin in the drought weeks, generous after rain — and reading it right is half the work. The other half is simply arriving on the same day each week until October. A yard kept that way looks settled, and that is the whole point.