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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Slush Fun We Just Couldn’t Wait For The Snow

Our patience has melted.

We’re tired of waiting on the weather. We want to see snowmen, and we want to see them now.

So pay no attention to what has been going on outside your window. Today, on the cover of IN Life, it’s winter just like the calendar says. And thanks to readers who answered The Slice’s call for photos of snow sculptures, we are able to show what this time of year is supposed to look like here in the Inland Northwest.

Well, sort of. To be accurate, the page would need to include a picture of some poor sap taking a snowball in the back of the head. No matter.

There are two ways to regard snowmen, or snowpersons if you prefer. One way is to evaluate these fleeting monuments to the transitory nature of man’s being by imposing a rigid set of aesthetic criteria.

You know. Does it flow? Does it speak to the themes of frigid isolation and survival that inform the wintertime struggles of northern peoples? Is it art?

The other way is to think of snowmen as fun.

Sure, some kids can seem a tad manic and driven when constructing a white-stuff creation. And if you’ve ever tried to interview snowmenmakers between their huffs and puffs, you know they prefer to let their work speak for itself.

But a snowman is, after all, a celebration of the season.

A season that went on hiatus, but will return.