Midsummer in Mongaup Valley smells like cut grass and hot dust by ten in the morning. Cuevas Quick Kutz Lawn Care L.L.C runs its mowers through that heat, holding Bethel yards to a rhythm so no week gets away from anybody. Edges are cut in along walks and drives until the line between lawn and pavement is one dark seam. Down the road the hayfield hill that made this town famous keeps its own long grass; the yards nearby are held to a tidier standard. Fall means leaves off the turf before they pack down, and one last low pass before the ground goes hard.