Dorky Dad on “Building ‘Shelter’ out of Snow:”
I have a neighbor who builds an igloo in his front yard every winter. And then he and his kids sleep in it.
He told me about this at a party at Christmas. Logically, I should have chuckled at the very silliness of it all: “You mean you’re working hard to build a house made of snow just outside the very nice home that you undoubtedly spend a considerable sum of money every year to heat?” Alas, that was not my first thought. Instead, I just thought this:
“Dang. I NEED to build my very own igloo RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT.”
Inspired by his igloo-building neighbor, he enlists his kids in the building of a snow fort. And not any snow fort but one “originally planned to have multiple levels and running water .” It doesn’t quite work out though.
The problem—as I see it— is that my fellow dad (and, according to my wife, fellow dork) forgot the key difference between igloos and a snow forts. While igloos are built for shelter, snow forts are built solely as base from which to launch snowball attacks. They need to be large enough to hold you, two or three friends, and a huge pyramid-shaped stack of ammunition, and tall enough to offer protection from the inevitable retaliatory barrage.
My wife’s right. I am a dork.
Fatherhood Etc. 