Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

I’ve read the term “shock and awe” in more than one media outlet regarding the inauguration of Donnie, Mikey, the oligarchs, and the Republicans. (I need to come up with a clever abbreviation for this group.)  According to Wikipedia, “shock and awe” is a “military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force.” Its goal is to demoralize any opposition by making it appear futile.

I’m not ready to discuss the current political situation yet, and perhaps I shall never be. But I would like to use shock and awe in another context to lighten some of our hearts in these scary times.

I use Kleenex® tissues, the cube variety, and my current box shows a winter scene with snowpeople. When you consider that no two snowflakes, much less two snowpeople, are alike isn’t that really a shock and awe situation?

The current Kleenex cube has a sign that reads: “The largest snowperson ever built featured a 130-foot long scarf, truck tires for buttons, and an eight-foot nose designed to look like a carrot.” But there is no documentation of this feat.

So I went to Google® for confirmation. And I learned that in 2008 a group of residents in Bethel, Maine aimed to create the largest snowperson ever built. (Bear in mind I am not sure this is the same  snowperson featured on the Kleenex® box, but you can be assured that what I’m telling you about Bethel, Maine is documented.)

The snowperson was named Olympia and she measured 122 feet and one inch tall. She required 13,000 pounds of snow and possibly several pounds of money. As word got out, the community rallied to raise funds and its teamwork got Olympia into the Guinness Book of Records. Now that’s what I call shock and awe in a good sense.