Quinzee

After the snowstorm last night, we woke up to see big piles of snow by the walkway. The snow plow had come to clear the snow on the road early in the morning. What shall we do with so much snow? For the last two winters, we had built snowmen, created snow angels on the ground, and had snowball fights. This year, we are going to build a quinzee!

What is a quinzee?

It's a "snow cave" made from piles of settled snow. Somewhat like an igloo, just that igloo is made from piles of hard snow. The man and the boys spent quite some time gathering and compressing the snow into a pile. Finally, they tried digging a hole. I had to constantly remind the boys not to lie on the ground, or to put their head into the hole while digging. I was afraid that the pile of snow might collapse and suffocate them, should they get trapped under. So they went on their knees while digging. Phew.

For the time being, the quinzee is a nice size for the squirrels to hide. We will wait for more snow, and then try to pile more snow to expand the entrance and the inside of the quinzee. Meanwhile, the boys continued to have fun brushing the sides of the quinzee, digging deeper, and piling more snow. I am fine as long as they don't try to get into the little "cave".