White, icy, damp and strong, the snowman appeared in the courtyard as if just visiting.  We fashioned him, or made him into something fashionable with his New England Patriots bling [the week before the superbowl].  If you build a snowman big enough, life-size, you cannot help but want to get a picture with the guy.  He with Clive’s hat keeping his snowy head warm and his glaring orange eyes, spinning around in eye sockets from the wind… and his frozen carrot nose, borrowed from the kitchen in the lobby.  The twig for a mouth made him rather grim so we tried to cheer him up a bit with the Patriot’s bling.

It got colder and wetter as the rain started, and we left for the warmth of the lobby. A short time later we looked out and our poor Patriot, standing there toppled over and became another pile of snow and was no more.  He had lasted less than an hour but in his short snowy life had been kind enough to stand quietly for a snapshot with one of his creators.