The first mow of the year in Bethlehem is an event — grass suddenly ankle-deep along the Delmar sidewalks, the Normanskill running loud in its ravine, the Hudson flats holding onto their chill a week longer than everywhere else. The whole 9 yards lawn maintenance takes it from there, mowing, trimming and edging on a steady rotation from that first cut until the leaves come down in Slingerlands. Corners get squared, tree rings get cleaned out, and the sidewalk line stays sharp enough to notice from a passing car. Late-summer heat can brown a lawn out; the height goes up, the cut comes less often, and the grass gets to keep its roots. The work is unglamorous and the result is not: a yard that looks looked-after every week of the year it's growing.