I wasn't aware of this very important fact until last week, when my brother in law Martin requested that he wanted to make a snow man....
There are different kinds of snow!
I think the last time I really thought about snow quality was back on the cross country ski team, running with polls down the sidewalks waiting for the first snow of the season to arrive, or melting on wax to my skis and needing to know figure out which wax to put on for which kind of snow we had....not that I remember or know any of this information now, just that there was a blue, red and yellow wax and I knew to ask my brother which wax I should use. I still remember the smell of the wax heating on with the iron and slightly burning my fingers when I worked to smooth the wax into the skis...looking back, I believe this was my favorite part of skiing! Playing with hot wax!
But back to this whole snow man snow concept.
The prettiest snow, the kind that falls in pretty fluffy patterns that you catch on your mittens and stare at in wonder and awe at the amazement that is nature...sucks for snowmen!
The thick tufts of snow that fall from the sky in soft chunks like cotton candy...no good for the men of snowness.
What we luckily discovered after a visit to Devils Lake State Park this past weekend is, yes, PERFECT SNOWMAN SNOW!!!! 30-40 degree weather, the snow is just about turning to slush. The sun hitting the snow right around 2pm in the afternoon, so that the snow is just beginning to melt and forms an ice cube when you squeeze it in your palm! That's the ticket! I also didn't realize that not all of us are born with the knowledge of how to roll snow off the ground and pat into a ball, so I also got to share that information with a couple of my favorite Chileans! Here's a photo of proof:
