Indian River sits where Burt Lake hands the water over to Mullett, and the whole township is built around that short bright stretch of current. Northern Landscape, LLC cuts and trims the lawns along it through a northern Michigan summer that arrives late and leaves early — mowing and edging cottage yards and year-round homes while the season lasts. Then Cheboygan County does what Cheboygan County does, and the snow comes in feet rather than inches. Plowing here means opening drives that wind back through pines to houses set well off the road, usually before daylight. Both halves of the year, the reward is identical: a place someone plainly takes care of.