Beyond the Lawn

About Beyond the Lawn

Just east of town the Stillwater River slides through the woods of Englewood Reserve, and the long grass embankment of the flood dam rises above it like a hill somebody built on purpose. In April the whole valley lets go at once — the river runs loud, the ground softens, and every lawn in Clayton wakes up hungry for a first cut. Beyond the Lawn works that turn and the one at the other end of the year, mowing, trimming and edging while things grow, then plowing, shoveling and spreading de-icer when the drives glaze over. The pleasure of it is in the finished look of a yard: the border crisp where grass meets walk, the lawn holding its line all the way to the street. Come January the same eye goes to a cleared drive, squared off at the apron, nothing left to trip on.