509 GUYS

About 509 GUYS

Three digits cover a lot of country out here — wheat ground to the south, timbered ridges to the north, and Spokane sitting in the middle of it like a hinge. 509 GUYS keeps to the city end of that map, mowing, trimming and edging yards from Hillyard's grid down through the north-side avenues where the streets run straight until the hill decides otherwise. Summer evenings the light goes long and gold across a fresh cut and every blade stands up in it. There is real satisfaction in the last pass of the day: clippings swept off the walk, gate latched behind. When fall arrives the work turns to hauling the whole year off the grass so the ground can rest.