On the thumb's eastern shore the day begins over open water — first light comes up out of Lake Huron and reaches Harbor Beach before it reaches anywhere inland. Greener Bay Landscaping Construction Inc. is out in it, mower running while the harbor is still glassy and the breakwall is only a gray line on the water. Grass here grows thick on lake air and long June evenings, and it rewards a steady, even cut. The pride is in the finish: edges tight to the walk, clippings gone, a yard that looks the way the water does on a calm morning.