Summer is short and bright in Spalding Township, where the hardwoods and hayfields of Menominee County run south toward the river country, and the grass makes the most of every long June evening. Patriot Lawn Care LLC works the whole of that season — mowing on a regular round, trimming along fence posts and outbuildings, edging where lawn meets gravel, and cleanups in spring and again when the leaves come down. Up here a yard is often a clearing carved out of the woods, and keeping its edges honest is half the work. The last cut of the year is a small ceremony. Spalding Township, Powers, Hermansville, Carney and the nearby Menominee County communities are on the route.