Snow Days

"Arctic Iceberg"

1,000 pieces  |  Unbranded

Assembled by Vanessa Reyes, February 2025

Interaction Rating: 3 / 5 (interaction with the set is okay, but only with help from an adult)

January 6, 2025

Hunter, whether he likes it or not, was born and raised in Mississippi, where it may have snowed once in his whole childhood. As an adult living in Virginia, where snow can fall several times a year during a busy snow season, Hunter is not one to drive on snowy or icy roads. The winter of 2025 ended up being much snowier than typical, and it always seemed to fall on a weekday, which meant that Hunter ended up with a couple of snow days. The drawback of working remotely for Sarah is that she didn't get any snow days, and she also had to try to focus on work while Hunter wanted to be outside frolicking in the snow. She managed to sneak in a walk on one of the snow days, and they walked (or rather, slid) over to Sunday Park near their house. People were sledding wherever they could find a decent hill. It was brisk, so they didn't stay out too long, but it was fun to see their usual surroundings transformed and made new by the snow. Hunter threw some snowballs at a tree (and maybe in the general direction of a squirrel).

That winter, the reservoir they lived on totally froze over for about a week, a rare and beautiful sight. As it melted, the ice made a twinkling sound that made for a nice soundtrack on their winter walks. When most of the ice had melted, the remaining ice sheets broke up and collected at the shoreline in sharp fragments that contrasted starkly with the flowing blue water around them. The sound of the ice sheets crashing into each other as the waves moved them was LOUD. The sheets were thick enough to grab hold of and shatter against the rocks. A couple of days later, the ice was gone. Not long after, the first crocuses appeared.

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