Jan 9, 2021
Shortly before Christmas, we had a small snowstorm that produced a few inches of snow. Later that evening, a man came out and proceeded to work into the night building a snowman. We could see it from our window and watched the full construction and it was fun to watch. The cold didn’t last, however, and the snowman was nothing but a pile in the next day or two, and as we walked past the remains, we said our respects to frosty.
Fast forward to a week ago when we had yet another snowstorm. This time bringing us a good 8 inches. Once again, we saw a man out in the snow, set to build the biggest snowman he could manage.
Now, I am unsure if this was the same man or another childlike soul as everyone kind of looks the same from a block away when they are covered head to toe in snow gear. Either way, we knew we were in for another show.
Once he had rolled the snowball to a satisfactory size, he placed it very near where the first snowman was. But soon he looked down on it and realized what every overeager snowman builder realizes. That he now had to lift a slightly smaller snowball onto the first. Realizing he was going to need backup, he texted for reinforcements. Shortly after, 3 friends came out to assist.
At this point we had to stop watching. I don’t remember why, but we missed this part of the show. However, the next day we went for our walk and took a look at the results.
Sure enough, there was a full snowman. 2 very large balls placed one on top of the other. However, on the very top lay a very small, basketball sized head, very out of proportion to his body. Now, whether or not they got cold and gave up, or they realized they now had an even bigger problem of getting a large snowball on top of a man that was now taller than all of them, I will never know. We just knew something went very wrong.
Later that day, however, we spotted yet another snowman creator (who very well might have been the first or the second) and he was on a mission. We watched as he shoved sticks in for arms. No one needed to know the sticks were city property used as sidewalk guides so pedestrians know where to walk when it snows. They were now appendages. He then proceeded the remove the sad looking head and build one a little less “bad encounter with a witch doctor”.
Once he has his ball rolled to size, he looked upon his challenge and set out to conquer. He lifted and rolled the ball up the side of the snowman and onto its place, stalling just at the very top to give it one final heave. And it landed right in place. This brought him so much joy, he jumped up and down in excitement.
But he was far from finished. He then decided this snowman needed friends. And he worked into the night building yet 2 more snowmen to keep him company.
The next day, as we walked past, we noticed these snowman were fully decked with button noses and corncob pipes and the whole snowman works. I have no idea where they all came from. Perhaps he keeps a snowman stash with him at all times.
Since then, we’ve seen some sun, but our temperature hasn’t gone above freezing and these snowmen have hung on for dear life. Each day we walk past, new additions have been made. A smile turned to a frown, a beer can for their drinking enjoyment, and even an inappropriately placed tube of chapstick. And each day the main snowman gets a bit smaller and leans a bit more as if to give his friend a big hug. But he holds on.
We have 4 more days in the hotel if Tyler can get the toilet fixed this weekend. Placing bets on whether the snowman stays here longer than us!