A cut above the rest

About A cut above the rest

Some mornings in Owatonna start at four, when the streetlights are still burning over Bridge Street and the only sound is a plow blade finding the pavement. That is the hour this crew keeps in the deep of a Steele County winter, so a driveway is bare before the coffee finishes brewing. When the cold finally lets go, the same hands turn to mowing — clean passes, crisp edges, clippings gone. Summer here is short and bright, and a lawn kept sharp makes the most of every week of it. From the first heavy fall of December to the last cut of October, the aim is simple: leave it better than the weather left it.