Star Beacon
January 29, 2007 07:30 am
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By SHELLEY TERRY
Staff Writer
sterry@starbeacon.com
ASHTABULA - - Sand pails and a rectangular block, about the size of two shoeboxes, got new use Friday outside a West 38th Street home.
Paula Brinkman pushed, piled, dragged and dumped snow and gathered mounds of it as she created an igloo in her driveway.
"I'm building it for my son, Ryon, who's 17 and has muscular dystrophy," she said. "I'll put a roof on it and lay a blanket down so he can be outside in the snow."
Brinkman started the igloo shortly after midnight when her son's aide arrived to stay inside with him. Brinkman said the challenge is to build an igloo large enough to accommodate two people.
Tilted and placed on top of each other in a spiraling, inward curve, Brinkman pushed the blocks together into an arch. Gaps in the walls were smoothed over with handfuls of snow. She shaped the entrance in a U-shape, facing the house to prevent the wind from blowing in.
The project goes hand and hand with this week's winter blast. There's about 14 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature hovered at 1-degree early Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
The igloo made Brinkman's yard look arctic, and with temperatures predicted to plummet again on Sunday, it feels like the arctic, too.
Ryon said he's excited about the prospect of lying on a blanket under a bumpy ceiling of snow.
Indoors, he looks outside from his window, where he sees skeletal trees and bushes heavy with snow. More snowflakes are falling from the sky and he can't wait to get bundled up and see it all for himself.
Star Beacon Print Edition: 1/27/2007
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Photos
Paula Brinkman builds an igloo in the driveway of her West 38th Street home. The igloo is for her handicapped son, Ryon, to enjoy. The Star Beacon