Snowman in the Gazebo

Snow squalls were forecast for this day, followed by dropping temperatures and bitter cold weather. The weekend that is coming up is expected to include snow on Saturday and possibly record-breaking cold temperatures from Sunday into Monday. Batten down the hatches, folks!

My morning bus dropped me off in the middle of campus, and I had a half-hour to spare; so I decided to check out the area around the duck pond. This photo depicts the little gazebo by the duck pond, both of which are near the alumni gardens.

The white columns of the University House (seen here looking quite green on an August day) are on the middle right, the duck pond is past the gazebo, and the engineering buildings are down below that.You've seen this gazebo before, as I posted a photo here after I stumbled across it, still bedecked in Christmas lights, one morning in late January.

On this particular day, however, I was in for a surprise, for there in the middle of the gazebo stood a huge snowman! This is actually the back view of it; the view from the front didn't give me that nice, contrasty red brick wall as a background. 

I'll tell you what you're missing from the front view: The snowman has twigs extending from its waist, sort of like a skirt. It has stone buttons down the front. There are twigs for its mouth and arms, and two carrots for its eyes. Whoever brought the carrots was quite generous with them, as several carrots were scattered around the gazebo for the benefit of the local bunnies.

This is one of the neat things about having access to a college campus. The students are full of energy, and after a good snowfall, you often find the things they have built around campus. Some of them are very creative and go well beyond "just" the standard snowmen.

For example, I won't forget the fierce snow dinosaur (complete with needle-sharp teeth) that I came across on the Old Main lawn two years ago almost exactly. This snowman is not nearly as fierce as that creature, thank goodness!

I will admit, though, that I did have a little winter flight of whimsy in which the snowman came to life and we danced all around the gazebo together, not unlike that "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" scene from The Sound of Music. I suspect, though, that the snowman and I might need dancing lessons before we attempt that. As well as, perhaps, a slightly larger gazebo. :-)

The song to accompany this snowy image is the classic tune, Winter Wonderland. There are so many good versions to choose from, and here are two of my favorites: the first is by the Eurythmics, the second by Cyndi Lauper.

In the meadow, we can build a snowman . . .