Grattan is glacial country — kettle lakes, gravel roads that roll like a held breath, hayfields and woodlots northeast of the city. Grand Rapids Fertilizing Company works the lawns out here, feeding them so the color comes up even and carries into fall, and keeping them cut and trimmed besides. Sandy ground on one hill and heavy clay in the hollow behind it means no two yards on the same road ask for quite the same thing. The result shows up slowly and then all at once: a thick lawn that shrugs off August and stays green right to the fence line. Around Grattan that is a yard people slow down for.