After two years of deliberation, and much indecision, I finally sucked it up and bought a new lawn mower. She’s a real beauty with a Swedish name, Husqvarna, and a Japanese branded twin cylinder engine, Kawasaki, and a proud “Made in America” sticker. It’ll cut a 42” swath, 25% wider than my old mower, which may reduce my mowing time to under an hour. Here’s a picture taken in my yard two days ago when she was delivered.

Here’s another picture, taken this morning. They say it’ll accumulate to six inches or more.

This is, of course, a phenomenon known as “Sprinter”, that season that can’t decide what it wants to be, as my online friend, Mitch Teemly, has so poetically described it.

So, even though my crocus and buttercups have been in full bloom for a week,

and despite the fact that my new mower sits in the shed, ready to go, I’m afraid the machine I’ll use today is the snowblower. One more time.

Here’s to Wisconsin, the state of never-ending surprises, where the best advice you’ll ever get is, “Never put away your snow boots”.