RECENTLY, I HELPED my great niece build a mini snowman barely higher than my knees.
I taught 5-year-old Meghan how to roll balls, then how to pack snow so the head wouldn’t topple from the body. She was a quick learner.
Next, I sent her in search of twigs for arms. She roamed a snow-covered hillside, flash of purple against brilliant white.
Then we scavenged for stones for eyes.
Beneath the sprawling bare branches of an aged oak, I plucked fallen acorns for a nose and buttons.
Not the snowman my niece and I built, but rather a gigantic snowman at 18 Third Ave. NW in Faribault.
Together, with the aid of my eldest daughter, we hodge-podged a face that smiled back at us.
I’d forgotten what simple joy lies in creating a snowman.
In the Hoisington family’s Faribault yard, this snowman is sure to make you smile.
Sometimes that’s all it takes to lift yourself out of the winter blues, to chase away the worries of life, to ease the stress.
To view the world through the eyes of Meghan, who found nothing more delightful than building a snowman on a Saturday afternoon was a gift.
FYI: If the gigantic snowman featured here looks familiar, it’s because last year I photographed an over-sized snowman in this same Faribault yard. Click here to view last winter’s snowman.
© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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