Auburn Road wakes early in Utica, and by the time the light reaches the storefronts there is already a mower running somewhere behind them. Green Giant Services keeps lawns cut, trimmed and edged across the old riverside town and the neighborhoods spreading from it toward Shelby Township and Sterling Heights. The Clinton River runs cool through the middle of things, and the yards nearest it hold their green deep into August when everything else has gone pale. There is a plain pleasure in leaving straight stripes across a small city lot and hauling every clipping away with you. Cleanups in spring and fall put the same finish on a property, front bed to back fence.