It has been a busy winter so far.  In the end of January for the last nine years Jim has been part of the 3 person Shadowmen snow sculpting team in the St. Paul Winter Carnival. At this time, he had competed in eight of the last St. Paul Winter Carnival Big Block Snow Sculpting competitions.   His first year with the Shadowmen they were hired by the Vulcan’s sponsor, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, to sculpt the centerpiece for the snow park competition on Harriet Island, located on the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul.   The Vulcan Krewe is the nemesis of the Royal Family and winter carnival theatrics are played out within the activities of the winter carnival.  There are coronations for the new royal family members, appointing of the new Vulcan members, parades, outdoor activities, ice and snow sculptures, along with a treasure hunt for the medallion.  This is what people do in the frozen tundra of Minnesnow-ta at the end of January.  We go outside and make the best of our extreme weather.

I am not a big fan of outdoors in the winter.  My outdoor winter sports are shoveling the driveway, hauling wood to the attached garage for easy access to the fireplace and these days, shoveling paths for our faithful Papillion, Felix.  This long carnival weekend has been my one and only commitment to spending large amounts of time in the weather.  I have been known to make some high energy, healthy snacks for the sculptors on Thursday. On Friday morning, the artists start chipping away with their hand tools and mid-morning I will drop by with the snacks and hot Caribou coffee. By noon Sunday they present their finished art for judging.  It’s a family affair.  Jim and our kids, along with many other family members and friends have been seen drifting through and congregating at the snow park, which in recent years has been located at the Minnesota St. Fair Grounds in St Paul.  Sunday around noon is the time to view and vote for your favorite snow sculpture.  It’s amazing what the artists from the ten or more teams can create with an 8 x 8 x 8 snow block, their hands and no power tools in less than three full days.  Minnesota in January brings many sunny days with minimal cloud cover, causing the temperatures to drop.  The sun creates shadows that the artists have factored into their designs. I have trained my eyes to see the movement of these snowy works of art and to observe how the sun plays into the sculpture, but I merely have the gift of art appreciation.   Some years temps have been near zero.  Others, we have experienced blizzard like winds and then, there were times it was warm enough that judges had to rush to critique, assess and rate because the sculptures were melting in the sun even with the best efforts of the artists to block the sun with tarps.  Jim’s team has been pretty successful.  The Shadowmen have lots of hardware on their shelves from their many times placing in competitions.  They have won many artist choice awards, people’s choice awards, along with some seconds and thirds.

However, in 2016 they won first place and many of us went to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to watch them compete in the national snow sculpting championship.  This was especially fun because my brother and his family who live in northern Illinois were able to join us.  

All of this fun had just wrapped up prior to my initial doctor appointments early February and little did we know that we were just about to embark on a not so fun time.