Even though I am not proud of this particular snow sculpture, I wanted to show you that I actually did go out yesterday and build this little squirrel. You probably could not identify it as such if I hadn’t told you what it was, right? I have to admit that I did not take a lot of time in its creation.

I tried to make the tip of the tail curl outward but it kept falling off.

My Snow Bear was much better a few years back. Take a look.

My father was the master snow sculpture person. I spent a good hour this morning going through the old family photos looking for one in particular. I finally found it at the very bottom of the last stack of photos. Here it is:

The back of the photo says that my father created “The Masterpiece” on May 22 (?) 1951. It must have been a late spring snowstorm or the date stamp is incorrect! I call her the Snow Lady. She must have been huge by the looks of her. (In more ways than one.)

He also created an igloo for my sister and me one year out of a huge snowdrift. We’ve both looked high and low for that photo, but it seems to have gone missing somehow over the years. A shame, that.

I’ll try and do a better job with our next packable snow. Until then the Snow Squirrel will probably be used as a leg-lifting post for Alex.

dat’s one FAT squirrel!  looks more catlike to me, but impressive none the less.  Your dad had alot more to work with and May???  Man, my goal is to have a May lift ticket someday.

That’s a fine snow squirrel, but challenging! I don’t know why you picked a squirrel in the first place. As I told you, I would have done a rabbit. Much easier. Bet you had fun and wish I could have been there!

I remember that pic of Dad’s snow lady, but didn’t think it was from 1951!  Too bad about the igloo photo. I think of it now and then and wonder…

I LIKE your snow squirrel.  Very cool.  Our snow is not all gone either even though it did get above freezing.  We didn’t get real rain either as they predicted and certainly looked like we would get from the radar.  Just mainly drizzle.  What snow was left to shovel was very heavy slush.

Maggie, my squirrels around here are pretty fat too. I know, (May) but that’s what my mom wrote on the back.

Bigsis, aren’t you sweet. I don’t know why a squirrel, it just came to me. Rabbit would be a good choice!

C, well thank you. Glad you liked him. We still have snow but it did melt a little today.

Nice tail work, there.

Rick, are you making fun of my tail?

Bigsis, mom also wrote on the back of the Snow Lady pic that it was done on Creek Road. I didn’t think that little house had such a large yard, but maybe back then it did.

I just realized you said Mom wrote MAY,1951 on the photo!!! What could she have meant? I know we sometimes had snow on the ground at Easter, but May?? Can’t believe I didn’t notice that fact til Maggie mentioned it.

Anyway, I was only one year old when the “snow lady” was built on Creek Road. Don’t remember much about that place in Poughkeepsie except for the big heating grate in the living room floor. (it was scary)

Bigsis, not sure! But the date stamp (not Mom’s) was May 22 and Mom wrote over the old stamped year that faded as 1951. So, the date should hold as May. You were one year old so naturally you don’t remember! P.S. Everything was scary to you. You were a strange child. The heat vent just let in hot air from below; remember the one at the camp???

I’m betting the photo was processed and printed in May, but taken earlier in the year. Look at the trees—there’s no way that could have been May. (I say this like I have any authority at all over your family photos—ha!)

If I’d seen your squirrel from the side, I think I would have recognized it as a squirrel. From the front, I’m not sure! Bravo to you for even trying to snow-sculpt!

Steve, of course! That must be the answer. They probably took the photo back in January but didn’t get them printed until May. Why didn’t I think of that? Well, at least from the side you could recognize it. I wasn’t sure I had even gotten it to that level of recognition. On to the next!