Little Traverse Bay turns that impossible blue in July, and half the town seems to be down at the docks by nine in the morning. Lake Life Lawncare & Maintenance is up the hill in the meantime, mowing, trimming and edging lawns that catch the same light coming off the water. Summer up north is short and crowded, and the grass knows it — twelve hard weeks of growing and then a stop, so the cutting has to keep pace right through August. Cleanups carry the rest of the year, clearing winter's litter in spring and the maple leaves that come down all at once in fall. A tidy yard with the bay in the distance is a fine thing to leave behind you.