Herculean Artistry: When it warms up a little, I might be tempted to sculpt to my minds content! Or maybe not.

Like most in the northeast, I've succumbed to the inevitability that I will most likely have a stay-at-home Friday where I will contend with non-outdoor activities. The promise of blizzard-like conditions has me reminiscing about fraternity row at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and how, as a kid, I loved the times we drove from Milford Street to Sherburne and passed the enormous snow sculptures created by more-than-likely intoxicated undergrads.

This memory, of course, led me to search for snow sculpture competitions where I found the annual event in Colorado. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I'm sure Nanook of the north had his creative moments where the snow inspired him simply to chisel away.

I'm also reminded of my senior year in high school where our senior class entered a snow sculpture competition during Syracuse's Winterfest and when, with temperatures like today, I was the only one who showed up to work. The block of ice our school was given was meant to be hammered into a coca cola bottle. Let's just say, "That never happened." Rather than soda pop, I managed to create a fridgedaire! It was a pathetic attempt, but the best I could do by myself in the freezing cold.

I suppose innovation is best when individuals read their environments and make the best of it. Here's to all the snow men and women out there who choose artistic expression on days when hot cocoa and a fireplace are much more inviting.

Stay warm.