I was a bit late getting in this morning. What with the snow and cleaning out the driveway and the walkway and being really tempted to make a snowman.
The snow seemed almost perfect. Maybe even a bit too wet. But it will certainly stick together well. This is really good snowman snow. Or snowballs. If you happen to have a good target handy.
It’s been a long while since I built a snowman. You need the right sort of snow. If it’s too cold, the snow gets too light and fluffy and it doesn’t stick together very well. Too wet, and it’s more like swimming than playing in the snow.
This snow was pretty good for construction purposes. It holds together very well. It might even be a bit too wet, especially if you’re trying to shovel it. It is pretty heavy to shovel, so it’s hard to move from where you don’t want snow to where snow could be allowed. It would be easier if you could… say… roll it into big balls and stack those balls on top of one another.
I thought about it. Quite seriously. Building a snowman would get the snow off my driveway. Just roll it into big balls and roll the balls onto the lawn. Then you just need maybe a carrot for a nose and, as the song says, two eyes made out of coal. Although coal is not as plentiful as it once was. Which in some ways is a good thing. Except if you’re building a snowman.
There are alternatives. Pretty much any rock of the right size will work. I don’t think it’s a hard and fast rule you need coal for eyes, maybe even a mouth. There are lots of other materials that could be used.
I spent a bit of time reflecting on what materials would be best for snow person construction. Unfortunately, by the time I decided I could just look for a couple rocks for eyes, the driveway was clear and I had not even started on building a snowman. And it was time to head off to work.
But I really should build one someday soon. Just call and say I might be a bit later getting to work. I was delayed. Searching for coal.