Building my snow sculpture during a Tornado warning

Bob Dole’s ghost swept across his hometown last night with 100 MPH winds. Its climate change in Russel Kansas which saw its wind records shattered.

I save my snow from a couple weeks ago carefully hiding it from the sun and moved it to my front yard. Last night we got 1 inch of rain as Minnesota records of various sorts fell. One of them being the first December ever to have tornado warnings. I covered my sculpture of a quintet of Carolers under tarps to survive 47 degree melting and last night’s rain. Here’s the intersection during one downpour last night.

I was substitute teaching Tuesday and Wednesday and my eight our days left me no time to work in the light but I did manage to cover the sculpture with tarps. This is how it looked when I began peeling them off this morning.

And here is my relatively successful protection in the full unveiling. Note that I covered snow wet from the rain with the tarps to prolong their dampness for the morning as the temperatures dropped. I needed to keep them sticky to put flesh to my boney fingers:

After I used up most of the snow I got more help from my two grandsons and I had them decorate the singers with scarves, ties and other assorted enhancements. I ran out of steam to work when lunch was ready. I’m still thinking about whether I really want to spiff the carolers any more. My back says no. Note the yellow clay model I made before I piled up the snow. Its at the foot of one of the carolers.

And this is how I would like my sculpture to look. I didn’t place the women properly to manage this but since it will be cold if I do fuss with things like eyes and noses they are likely to survive through the cold to come.

About the author

Harry is a ferociously good natured eccentric in Duluth Minnesota who detests traitors dressed up as Uncle Sam. You can find somewhat better edited writings of his at the Duluth Reader "contributors." page. The URL is:

https://duluthreader.com/contributors/h/84/284-harry-welty