Netcong is a small borough set down between a lake and a rail line, with the Highlands hills rising on every side and Lake Musconetcong flat and bright at the bottom of it. Elder's Lawn Care mows the yards on those short blocks, the ones that climb away from the water and end in stone walls and old canal ground. Mornings here start cool even in July, the air off the lake still holding the night, and that is the best hour to cut. The work runs from the first green flush of spring through the cleanups that follow the hillside leaves down into every yard in the fall. What lasts is a lawn cut even, edged along the walk, the clippings gone — a small borough looking like somebody minds it.