Good Grief!

Okay. So, Terry and I were sitting at the dining room table having our midday meal when I noticed that the snow had stopped. I checked the weather.com page and looked at the radar map. Seeing nothing in the immediate area (except for "The Blob" which is almost always present) I decided to get outside and start moving snow.

The wind had picked up and there was some difficulty getting the snow thrown in such a way that it did not blow back on me but, with constant adjustments to the discharging chute, I managed to get the job done. I also had trouble with stones in the gravel drive catching the runners and jerking the machine one way or the other. Stones also got picked up by the snow thrower and rattled their way up the chute before getting tossed-often two or three times further than the snow. This required constant adjustments to the chute so as not to hit the truck or house. (At least the wind wasn't strong enough to blow the stones back at me!)

Finished with the thrower, I discovered I had snapped on of the cotter pins on the auger. It must have been near the very end of the job for I had checked several times while tossing stones--just in case. I replaced that pin before dusting off the thrower and putting it back into the garage. Then Terry and I swept the snow off the truck and her Aveo (the Jeep is in the garage) before I used the shovel to clean up around the vehicles. As I finished it started snowing--again.

Wrapping my hands around a hot cup of cocoa, I checked the radar maps again and saw some bands of snow off to our northeast streaming to the southeast. Even when put into motion, these plumes of clouds did not pass over us. All that was over us was the ever present Blob. I say "ever present" because it seems to be just that. While everything else in the interactive radar map streams from the northwest to southeast, the Blob merely jiggles and quivers a little but remains over Armenia Mountain.

Heck, The Blob is probably still there. And I don't give a hoot when you read this. Could be January. Could be July. The Blob. Will. Still. Be. There. It's a natural phenomena. If you don't believe me check it out:

1-Go to the Mansfield, PA page for Weather.com using the link
2- Scroll down to the radar map near the bottom of the page
3- Notice The Blob located to the southeast of Mansfield? It's a little south-southeast of Mainesburg and probably over the name "Summit". (Of course, if we're in the midst of a LARGE storm, then the entire area will be covered in clouds and you'll have to come back later.)
4- Double click on the map to make it interactive and then click on "PAST" and then click "PLAY". If there are other clouds on the map, you will see them move but The Blob will only quiver like a Jello mold--or Santa's tummy. Trust me on this.

I'm not sure what's causing it but Terry and I have noticed it since last winter...right after the windmills went into operation. It was not there the first summer after we built the Aerie. I know because we were still finishing the chimney and I would check the radar for passing thunderstorms so Don would not get caught unawares up there on that high point.

PS It's 3:30 PM and it's snowing like crazy but only The Blob is overhead according to the map. And the sun is trying to shine under it from the west!