Frosty Snowmen - Photo Gallery

Last winter I had to do some driving through some country side on a photography job. I love these trips I take. Gives me all kinds of opportunities to see new things and get interesting photos. This trip I noticed an abundance of snowmen, snowladies and snowkids. It seems even people out in the country where their creations would be seen by only a few, put their creative caps on and displayed unbelievable snowmen. I am sure I missed some, but I still collected some nice samples of what is out there.

My first photo above is of a snowman my grandsons and I created. It rarely snows where we live in Tennessee. Has something to do with the lay of the land. Since I have been here, we have had only one snow that was more than an inch and stayed for more than a day. That snow was too dry to work with. I am from up north originally so I know you need wet snow and plenty of it to make a decent snowman.

Our little snowman was only about a foot and a half tall and only two balls of snow. He was a joy to make.

Obviously where I traveled on this day, they had had a pretty good snow storm. I don't know if this is what is normal for that area or not. I am just glad I got to see it.

This first set of photos are of multiple snow people. The work that went in to these is admirable. These reminded me of Calvin and Hobbs when Calvin built his evil army of snowmen. No, not all of them resemble any recognizable being, but the effort put in while getting wet and cold says it all.

The last two photos are of a family of three I thought was adorable.

I didn't see any of these built but I imagine it was a family affair. I hope so. I have build many a snowman with my daughter, my grandsons, nieces and nephews over the years.

The next to the last photo is of a snowman out in the middle of a field.

I tried to look up the history of the snowman but there is no way we will ever know when and where the art form started or why. After all, snow melts leaving nothing behind for an archaeologist to find. Were they built for fun or some military strategy that only a caveman could understand?

My earliest memories of a snowman was with Frosty the Snowman at Christmas time. I even wrote and illustrated a children's book centered around a snowman. They are whimsical creatures and can be whatever our imagination wants them to be. For Calvin they were an army, Charlie Brown, maybe a friend.

If you are from the south and never made a snowman then you are missing a winter ritual full of fun and sometimes mayhem. My siblings and I spent many a winter day building snowmen, snow forts and once we tried to build an igloo. It would many a time end up as a snow ball fight and we would end up with the whole neighborhood throwing snowballs at one another. Even now I smile when I think about those days. I love snowmen, I even have a collection of them.

I hope I brought back a memory or two for a few of you and for the southerners, maybe a desire to try it up north one holiday just to try your hand at it.

Stay warm and wear double gloves and socks if you do.