Spring arrives late in the Musconetcong valley and then arrives all at once. The ice goes off Lake Musconetcong, the ground softens into mud, and within a fortnight every yard in Stanhope needs cutting at the same time. Clearwater Landscaping meets that turn with mowing, trimming and edging, plus the cleanups that haul away a winter's worth of downed limbs and matted leaves. The soil up here is glacial and full of stone and the lawns run uphill, so a straight line takes some doing — which is exactly why a cleanly striped slope is worth stopping to look at. Through the summer the rhythm settles in: cut, edge, blow the walk clear, and leave the place looking easier than it was.