Igloo Party 2009

Igloo Party January 31, 2009 Dave outdid himself this year with his two story Igloo. There is a tunnel in and a tunnel out --in case of what I don't know -- as well as two slides, one black diamond that generated a lot of howling from the children, and one more tame that came down into the driveway. We did manage to get the kids to stop jumping down off the 90 degree vertical face when it got to be over eight feet tall last week.

I finally went inside, which impressed me. You certainly can't stand up in there unless you are under five feet tall. Just a few candles lit up the place because the snow is so reflective. Half a dozen people can squeeze in there and shiver together, although out of the wind it is a lot warmer than I expected.

I have dubbed Dave a snow beaver, a one-of-a-kind animal that can't stand to see snow lying flat on the ground. He has an irrepressible urge to pile it up. He laments that there are not more of his kind in the world: just think what a dozen snow beavers could accomplish, working together!

Other residents of Allen Street pass by regularly with quizzical looks and/or effusive compliments, but few of them seem to have started snow projects of their own. But our next-door neighbors have started working industriously on a large snow maze -- perhaps all hope is not yet lost.

At the party last night we had a good turnout of the neighborhood kids who were drawn in mostly by the Igloo, but found time to take in a few waffles and hot cider before they froze in the cold. I made some mulled wine, which was not to my taste, but which some friends who had spent time in Europe found authentic enough to have several cups. The kids stayed out playing in the snow for hours, and no one got hurt -- the safety precautions (mainly the hidden internal support structure) were apparently adequate.