MONROE - While recent snowfalls have left most people cursing Mother Nature, they gave one Monroe man a chance to relive his youth.
Jeff Buehler usually snowblows a path in his backyard for his dog to do his business. A few weeks ago, he decided to give his dog a path and give his family something fun to play in - an eight-foot tall snow fort.
"I wanted to rekindle my youth, plus make something fun for my daughters," Buehler said. "My snow forts when I was a kid were at the bottom of the driveway. They were never like this."
A few weeks ago, Buehler used his snowblower to pile the white stuff in his backyard. He let the pile soak up some rain to help settle the snow. Then it was time to burrow into the pile.
Buehler used his wife's garden spade to carefully dig a hole and begin to remove snow. Once he had a cavity big enough to sit in, he began dispatching snow via sled to his 13-year-old daughter, Abby.
Buehler and Abby took the burrowed-out snow and piled it on top of the fort. After six or seven hours of work over a week's time, the Buehlers had a snow fort unrivaled in their neighborhood.
"I worked on it whenever I could," Buehler said. "I'm not in as good of shape as I used to be, so it was a little tiring. I took longer breaks."
The fort has one large room that Buehler, Abby, daughter Lindsey, 16, and wife Donna all fit into, but can't stand up straight in. A tunnel leads to a smaller room, from which a tunnel leads to a back door exit.
"I think it's really cool," Abby said of her dad's creation. "It's huge. It takes up the whole backyard."
Buehler and Abby have spent the most time in the snow fort, even if it's just for a conversation, or seeing what the fort's interior looks like at night.
Lindsey at first thought the fort was neat, but didn't have much interest in going in. That changed when Buehler flipped on a light one night and two of Lindsey's friends saw the behemoth in the backyard.
"They wanted to go out there and check it out," Buehler said. "So, Lindsey and her friends had a little pow-wow out there for about 20 minutes."
Donna has yet to venture into the fort, but Buehler said that's OK. The effort he and his daughters put into building it was good bonding time, and any visits to the fort as a group is more of the same.
"We've all had fun with it," Buehler said. "I even thought about sleeping out there one night."
That opportunity may be around for a while. Despite temperatures reaching the 40s next Sunday and Monday, Buehler said he believes the fort will be around for a while.
"It won't be gone for quite some time," Buehler said. "I'll probably have part of it left in my yard in April or May."
The experience of building the fort will stay with Buehler, too.
"It was a good time, it was fun to bring back my youth," Buehler said. "I'm thinking of doing it again next year, but it depends on how much snow we get."
Jeff Buehler usually snowblows a path in his backyard for his dog to do his business. A few weeks ago, he decided to give his dog a path and give his family something fun to play in - an eight-foot tall snow fort.
"I wanted to rekindle my youth, plus make something fun for my daughters," Buehler said. "My snow forts when I was a kid were at the bottom of the driveway. They were never like this."
A few weeks ago, Buehler used his snowblower to pile the white stuff in his backyard. He let the pile soak up some rain to help settle the snow. Then it was time to burrow into the pile.
Buehler used his wife's garden spade to carefully dig a hole and begin to remove snow. Once he had a cavity big enough to sit in, he began dispatching snow via sled to his 13-year-old daughter, Abby.
Buehler and Abby took the burrowed-out snow and piled it on top of the fort. After six or seven hours of work over a week's time, the Buehlers had a snow fort unrivaled in their neighborhood.
"I worked on it whenever I could," Buehler said. "I'm not in as good of shape as I used to be, so it was a little tiring. I took longer breaks."
The fort has one large room that Buehler, Abby, daughter Lindsey, 16, and wife Donna all fit into, but can't stand up straight in. A tunnel leads to a smaller room, from which a tunnel leads to a back door exit.
"I think it's really cool," Abby said of her dad's creation. "It's huge. It takes up the whole backyard."
Buehler and Abby have spent the most time in the snow fort, even if it's just for a conversation, or seeing what the fort's interior looks like at night.
Lindsey at first thought the fort was neat, but didn't have much interest in going in. That changed when Buehler flipped on a light one night and two of Lindsey's friends saw the behemoth in the backyard.
"They wanted to go out there and check it out," Buehler said. "So, Lindsey and her friends had a little pow-wow out there for about 20 minutes."
Donna has yet to venture into the fort, but Buehler said that's OK. The effort he and his daughters put into building it was good bonding time, and any visits to the fort as a group is more of the same.
"We've all had fun with it," Buehler said. "I even thought about sleeping out there one night."
That opportunity may be around for a while. Despite temperatures reaching the 40s next Sunday and Monday, Buehler said he believes the fort will be around for a while.
"It won't be gone for quite some time," Buehler said. "I'll probably have part of it left in my yard in April or May."
The experience of building the fort will stay with Buehler, too.
"It was a good time, it was fun to bring back my youth," Buehler said. "I'm thinking of doing it again next year, but it depends on how much snow we get."