After a big snowfall in New York City, the natural world takes over for just a while and shows itself in surprising ways. Readers and friends often send us reports and pictures of what they’ve seen, like these icicles that appeared in a subway station (from Cara de Silva via the New York Times), or the “veil” of snow settled onto the mesh wall of a construction site (below, from Maria Robledo).

The most beautiful snow creation of all was the one we found on a late afternoon the day after the big snow. In a nearby park, we saw a little boy, no more than 6 years old, absorbed in making what looked to be an ordinary snowman: 3 balls of snow balanced on top of each other, about 3 feet high. We thought to take a picture of him working but didn’t want to disturb him. On our way home at sunset we stopped to look at what he had created.

Maria Robledo

It was not the usual snowman, but a BEING, sitting legs outstretched and arms crossed across it’s torso, with its head cocked up slightly, as though looking at the sky. It appeared to have a ponytail, so we imagine it to be a woman. It was such a strangely expressive sculpture, all the more wonderful because it was made by such a young kid.

Snow is such an amazing material…

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