Once again this year, I'm the first person on my block to

[MineralMan]

mow the lawn. Spring is finally here, and the ground is firm enough to get out on the lawn. The grass didn't really need mowing that badly, but a winter's worth of bird seed leavings and peanut shells abandoned by our squirrels required mulching. Dandelions and wild violets are blooming in the lawn, but their flowers are below my mower's height setting. The bees need them.

At the same time, I'm listening to my snowblower running on the driveway, using up the last of the gasoline in its tank. Leaving the gas in there for six months is a great way to keep the small engine repair guys busy, as many of my neighbors learned this past November. It's a waste of fuel, of course, but there's no convenient way to drain the gas from the tank, so.

Now that Spring has arrived, it's time to turn my attention to the upcoming primary elections and begin to plan what I'll be able to do for GOTV in November. It's a great time of year. I hope everyone is beginning to think about that and planning how they can help.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The pile of snow behind my garage has finally melted,

so I guess that means spring has come.

So what do you think about Tina Smith vs. Richard Painter?

[MineralMan]

3. I'll be voting for Tina Smith.

I'm not interested in long-term Republicans who change parties. Painter's ethical compass is good, but he's still a Republican on many issues. Tina is a real Democrat, so she gets my vote. Just being opposed to Trump is not enough to earn that vote.

That said, I wish I were voting for Al Franken again. Just saying...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. I'm with you.

I like a lot of what he has to say about Trump, but just running against Trump isn't enough. If he hasn't gone full-on Democrat on all the other issues, I'm not interested. Al Franken has already endorsed Smith, and I expect him to campaign vigorously for her. I don't want to slam Painter because he's doing good work in his narrow area of bashing Trump, but I do hope a clear distinction is made as to other issues.

My yard is covered with Virginia waterleaf, violets and wild ginger (I don't have a turf lawn, as such), and I need to get out and divide some hostas before they become impossibly enormous. There are goldfinches on my bird feeders and the pear tree on the boulevard, courtesy of the city of Minneapolis, is in full bloom. Winter sucks but it makes spring that much more welcome.

[a kennedy]

5. Sick about both of them.....

I want Senator Franken back. and not sure who’ll I vote for, not really planning on helping either one.

[a kennedy]

2. I do love the wild violets though......

but hear you with all the shells left by the birds and squirrels. It’s a mound of shells......

[MineralMan]

4. Quite a mound, indeed. It will take a couple more mowings

to reduce it all to a fine enough particle size to mulch its way back into the soil.

[rzemanfl]

6. All your neighbors are busy.

Trying to get on Snopes.😊

[MineralMan]

7. LOL!

Pure dumb luck, really. Someone popular on Twitter tweeted the post. Otherwise, it wouldn't ever have gotten beyond DU. It was pretty cool, though, I admit.

[Sailor65x1]

9. Sta-Bil is your friend!

Keep the fuel in your equipment treated with Sta-Bil (Or a comparable fuel stabilizer), and this will never be a problem for you. You won't have to waste all that fuel and produce all the excess emissions you're producing this way. I use it in everything from the leaf blower to my race bikes. Fuel will not start to break down for at least 12 months when treated, and closer to 24.

[MineralMan]

10. Yeah, my small engine gas can always has Sta-Bil in it.

I still run the tanks dry at the end of the season. That ensures a first pull start the next time I need to thing to run. There wasn't a lot left in the snowblower. I managed the last snowblowing carefully to run it down to a low level during the work.

I forgot, however, about my 3200 W Generator. It had maybe a quart of gas left in it the last time I used it, but that sat there too darned long. Fortunately, it has a fuel shut-off valve, so all I'll have to do is remove the valve, clean the screen and rinse out the tank with fresh gas. I felt so stupid when I tried to start it during a power failure last summer.

I know better than that, too. Maybe next weekend, I'll do that chore and get the thing back in service. I use it mostly to run my string trimmer and leaf blower. Both are electric, and the generator lets me avoid running a 100' extension cord to reach the entire lot. I mounted the generator on a four-wheel cart, so it's easy to move from place to place.