Straw Hat Man

About Straw Hat Man

On a valley afternoon the sun comes down on Barnesville with nothing to break it but a shelterbelt and the shade of a boulevard elm. Straw Hat Man does the lawn work through that heat — mowing, trimming and keeping yards neat around town and out at the farmsteads along the section roads. The valley wind never entirely stops, which is a mercy in August and a nuisance when the clippings want to go wherever they please. A route done right ends with the grass cut even, the edges defined, and everything blown back onto the lawn instead of into the street. Small work, done again next week, and a town that looks looked-after because of it.