The Triumphant Return of Paddy the Snowman

It was a beautiful day, with brilliant sunshine, warm breezes, and a blue sky with nary a cloud. What remained of the ice and snow began melting quickly. It felt much more like March out than December.

My husband and I had been talking about a possible winter backpack trip, but it was still raining when we got up. Things were just a bit too damp. And though the daylight is already getting slowly longer, while I don't mind the cold at all, backpacking this time of year represents just too much dark time for me.

So instead, we did the best we could with what we had: we took our bikes and our daysacks, and we headed for an edge of the local gameland we don't usually visit. This involves riding through several developments, up and down a few hills, and then traversing the reckless sheet of ice and mud that passes for a gameland road.

Negotiating our way was tedious business. One mis-step, and you're down for the count. But eventually we found ourselves in paths clear enough for easy walking, surrounded by woods. We sat on a fallen tree and enjoyed a tiny picnic of sandwiches (cheese for him, roast beef and cheese for me), Fritos, and drinks.

There were still little piles of snow around us, and so my husband amused himself by building a tiny snowman to impress me. This is Cousin Paddy (that's what we always call him), who returns each winter. He's got twigs for arms, tiny stalks for eyes, a jaunty acorn hat, and tons of personality.

All things being equal, our little friend cannot stay. He is made of things that melt and disappear. But oh how wonderful it is when he can come and play. Cousin Paddy offers just this one bit of advice: Seize the day!

The soundtrack is a song about a much more famous snowman. Here are the Ronettes with Frosty the Snowman.