And we have liftoff!

The guy from the hardware store called yesterday morning. The battery is back in stock and he set one aside for me, as promised. I picked it up, brought it home, and installed it with no problem. And it works.

Part of the west forty before mowing. Those aren't yellow leaves on the trees in the background; the rising sun's rays lit them up.

I still had the problem of the white smoke. I'm talking billowing clouds, here, not the odd wisp. Then, suddenly, it occurred to me. Is the oil cap on correctly? Uh-oh. Pilot error. I had the oil cap the wrong way on (it's not lost on me: the dipstick couldn't manage to close the dipstick). Every time I turned the mower, oil was splashing out and burning on contact with the hot engine parts. A quick twist and the cap was properly closed. And, just like that, no more spillage, no more white smoke. In the words of Bugs Bunny, "what a maroon!"

I got just about the whole yard mowed yesterday afternoon. There are still the edges and other hard-to-reach spots to cut with the weed eater/strimmer. I'll try to do some of that today, depending on the weather. Rain is forecast. But the big job (first cut of the year) is finally done. Until it grows back.