Building a snowman in Brooklyn...

When I woke up at 11 a.m. today, it was still snowing--the northeaster was going strong, and it had already dumped over 16 inches of snow on New York City and the surrounding area. The last serious snowstorm occured last January '05, and instead of doing fun things like sleding or having a snowball fight, my husband and brother spent most of the day moving us from one apartment in Brooklyn to another. Moving is difficult under any circumstances--doing it in the snow is a nightmare. My biggest gripe that day wasn't moving though; it was that I didn't get to enjoy the snow and do anything fun. Looking out my window I was determined to enjoy the snowfall this time.

My husband and I ventured out to meet my mom for lunch. On our way back we did some obligatory snowball throwing, but were still not satisfied--I wanted to roll around in the snow and have freezing cold hands that warrent taking off soaking wet clothes, huddling under a blanket, and drinking hot chocolates...so we decided to build a snowman outside our house. I got on my knees and started making the mound of snow that would make the base. A bunch of kids hanging out and doing normal kid things in the snow noticed what we were doing and asked if they could help...so there I was, on my knees outside my house, surrounded by kids half my age, building the first snowman I've made in over ten years. It was awesome. I think the kids were as surprised as I was. Between my husband and I and all of them, we got all the elements we needed--the coal (It was charcoal used for burning incense), the carrot, and the scarf--and if I do say so myself, we did an awesome job on our snowman.