Spring pushes up the Rondout Valley from the Kerhonkson end first, orchards blooming along the flats while snow still sits in the folds of the Gunks above. Valleau Lawn Service LLC opens its year right there — the cleanup pass that pulls winter out of a lawn, then mowing week after week as the valley's long warm stretch gets going, with trimming, edging, and beds mulched and kept. The soil down here is old farm ground and it grows grass with enthusiasm, so staying on it matters more than any single visit ever could. A cut lawn under those ridges, with the light coming over from the west late in the day, looks the way a place ought to look. Steady work; the yard shows it.