South of Grayling the country flattens into the old pine plains, where the highway runs through scrub and the sky feels wider than it does anywhere north of it. Beaver Creek Township keeps the grounds in that stretch mowed and trimmed through a short, bright growing season. Grass comes on late here and quits early, so summer is compressed — cutting on schedule, edging along walks and drives, tidying the corners a mower cannot reach. Cleanups in spring and again in fall clear what the wind and the pines scatter across open ground. On a June evening the light holds past nine, and freshly cut open lawn against dark timber is a fine thing to leave behind.