The Lawn Ranger and Snow

About The Lawn Ranger and Snow

The first hard frost usually finds Minot in late September, silvering the lawns near the Minot State campus before the sun has cleared the valley rim. The Lawn Ranger and Snow rides that stretch of the calendar hard: the last few cuts of the year, the trim work along walks and hedges, the leaves gathered off the grass before they mat down. There is a particular pleasure in an autumn lawn — cool air, no bugs, the mower running easy, and stripes that stay sharp for a week instead of three days. All summer the same route repeats, yard after yard, keeping ahead of grass that knows its season is short. Come the end of it, every property gets left flat, clean and ready for whatever the winter brings.