the only thing snow is good for

we don't get snow all that often here in the tri-cities, and what snow we do get is usually pretty pathetic and substandard, snow-wise; it won't pack, starts to melt, ices over, and then just spends the rest of the winter trying to get itself tracked into my house. but one winter several years back was pretty severe by our standards, and there was snow on the ground for months. i finally decided to build me a snowman. i worked on it around five hours, coming in the house occasionally to defrost and change my gloves, and was pretty pleased with my result; joel, being the sweetheart he is, went out and took a few pictures.

good thing, too, because the next day some asshole smashed the whole thing. fucking prudes.

ever since then, i've been resolved to make another snowman, one that will REALLY get the neighbors attention...i was considering a male nude figure, facing the street, and it would probably involve some strategically placed pvc pipe and a garden hose to complete the effect. and wouldn't you know it, we FINALLY got some decent snow here this year...but what with my surgery and all, i haven't really been in a position to go out and kneel in the snow for a few hours. besides, rolling up a snowball requires a lot of bending that i'm not supposed to do, so i put the snowman idea on the back burner.

today, i was driving down wellsian way on my way to the store, when i passed richland high school and noticed a bunch of gigantic snowballs, scattered around the football field. several had been rolled up next to the fence; as i passed the third one, i suddenly thought of the statues on easter island. i immediately pulled over into the student parking lot, jumped out, and went to work, but i quickly got too cold. i drove home, bundled up in layers including rubber gloves and knee pads, downloaded a pic of several easter island statues for reference, and drove back to the field.

the next couple of hours passed in a happy fog of creation that only began to lift when i realized i couldn't feel my fingers or my toes anymore, and it was nighttime. i would have liked to slim my creation down some more, but i was too exhausted to go on; i guess kahuna would have to stay chunky.

under the flash, kahuna seemed really flat and washed out, but hey, what can ya do? and while the easter island statues are usually on the somber side, i gave my big fella a bit of a smile.

i thought the figure looked really good under the streetlights, so i turned off the flash and snapped a couple more pics--

i like this last image in particular, as kahuna dreamily contemplates the rush hour traffic.

i don't imagine kahuna will survive for long; the high school boys will have him destroyed by noon, no doubt. but i like to imagine that i might have inspired some of them to make the other snowballs into kahunas, too-- how fun would that be?

if i come up with any other snow creations this winter, i'll update this post, so keep your eyes open.