January 23, 2010

The Story of the Snowman

A lot of people have commented on the great snowman, so I thought I’d tell you the story.

Baltimore is also known at Small-timore. Everyone knows everyone else or has some funny connection. I am a 12th generation Baltimorean, with three siblings and 28 first cousins, so the tentacles are all over the place. My mother lives in a compound with a lot of people she’s known for years and I have lunch with her on Sundays. Several months ago, someone stopped me and said that they read the blog (Thanks!) and then told my mother’s neighbour who was tutoring the woman’s children. Whew! Did you get that?12-31 001I was at lunch at my mother’s with my cousins from Atlanta on New Year’s Eve. We had gotten about four inches of light powdery snow that morning, and when I arrived, there was the most amazing snowman in front of the building. When I went to look at it, I saw the charming details, including arms, eyes made from faded flowers, a chain of ivy around its neck and some holly in its hand! P1030635What I really liked was that you could still see the handprints on the snowman and could tell how they’d patted the snow into place. 12-31 002Last week, I received an e-mail from another of my mother’s neighbours telling me about the snowman. The neighbour who tutors had been shown the blog by her tutee, informed the neighbour who’d made the snowman and he’d e-mailed me… with the information that his wife and my mother were schoolmates 60+ years ago!P1030636His Estonian daughter-in-law had made the snowman with her daughter. The snowman was dressed with the greens of nature rather than lumps of coal.

Thanks for making such a cheery snowman!

9 comments:

  1. Small town? Small world! A snowman of Estonian design in Baltimore. Love it. Great images, Meg.

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  2. My boys would love that snowman!

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  3. I love that snowman, but had no idea it was something "you" had a personal connection to! Isn't it funny how truly small the world is?!

    Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

    Kat :)

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  4. What a sweet post! Thank you for sharing the background with us. . .and thank you for the Turgot map of Paris. I have been salivating for that map forever! Your post is such a pleasure. . .Thank you for your effort.

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  5. Hi Meg,

    Having lived in Baltimore for 15 years (we moved to California 13 years ago), I know what you mean by small-ti-more. My husband, who grew up there cannot visit without running into someone he knows. Sometimes it is even a famous ex-football player hanging out at a local crab stop. But, even if you don't know someone, the charm and grace of the people there sometimes makes you feel like family even if you are not. Thanks for the pics and I love the snowman as well!

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  6. I love the connections made and fostered, especially with blogging :)

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  7. I love the snowman even more now that there is wonderful story to go with his unique beauty! Please don't let him melt off the screen just yet...

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  8. And here's the thing about Acanthus & Acorn's comment: snow may melt & Meg may design a new header, but thanks to the Internet & the longevity & wide distribution of an appealing image, that wonderful snowman will last just about forever. Not bad for a morning's work.

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