First light in the pines comes filtered and gray-gold, and dew sits on the grass long after the sand underneath has gone dry. Alexander Exteriors cuts lawns around Vista Center, where turf has to hold its own against acid soil, pitch-pine shade and a water table that does whatever it likes. Mowing, trimming and edging out here reward a grower's patience far more than a rushed pass. Clippings get carried off, borders get redrawn, and a yard carved out of the Pine Barrens looks deliberate again. There is real satisfaction in green that had to be coaxed out of sand.