Midsummer in Sparta arrives with heat that sits down in the valley and grass that gains an inch between visits. Doody Master Inc runs its route through those weeks the way you'd keep a promise — same yards, same day, the mower going while the shadows are still long on the east side of the barns. What comes after is the part people notice: trimmed fence lines, borders cut back from the walk, clippings swept off the drive. Come autumn the work turns to cleanups and hauling leaves out of the corners where wind stacks them. A tidy lawn on a hill road is a small thing, and it changes how a whole place feels.