On a still June morning the balloons go up over Howell and drift low across Thompson Lake, and half the township is out in the yard watching. E&D lawn service is out there too, working the ordinary miracle of a Livingston County growing season — mowing on a set cycle, trimming tight around trees and fence posts, running the drive edge true, and clearing the yard in spring and again when the leaves let go. Grass grows hard here from May through June, then asks for patience all through August. A lawn that looks even in both stretches is the thing worth aiming at, and it shows from the road.