When you stumble upon a snow sculpting contest.

You thank your lucky stars and take a ton of photographs as proof you stumbled across such random and profound inspiration. Also, you ogle the amazing works of art people have created. And note that most of them are from Wisconsin, a place that is far enough North to provide ample amount of snow to practice on. (AKA a place you would rather not venture to in the wintertime.)

Note: this insane line of snowmen outside the Art Institute was not entered in the competition.
It's just fun to look at. Oh, Chicago.

If you were looking for something fun to flip through this morning, we figured we'd share some photos from our adventure through the Snow Days 2015 event outside of Navy Pier. You can especially laugh now since it's March and almost spring. So, Chicagoans, you are home-free and able to appreciate the beauty of snow without wanting to curl up into a ball under 25 blankets. Use these photos as inspiration, or just another reason to get out and about and see what you can find in your city! We'll throw a prompt in at the end of the highlights reel for kicks. So without further ado...

Here are some snaps from our adventure:

How Argentina had enough snow to warrant a snow-sculpting team, we'll never know.
Sort of a Jamaican bobsled team thing, I guess.

Snow sculptors in action! This one was my favorite. 

The tarps behind the sculptures are intended to block out the sun, as the day was quite warm for Chicago winters.

The most mod-looking sculpture there. Cubism all day err'day.

This one was Emily's favorite! "Pushing Daisies" was the name, I think.

These guys came all the way from England to sculpt at Navy Pier.
Check the dudes in a snow-boat.

This one was actually done by a high-school team. So, what did you do with your Saturday? 

I'm not entirely sure what's happening here, but I can dig it.
Kissing birds, skulls, bombs, it's all good.

Here's another shot of my favorite sculpture!
This was called something crazy like "Impending Fate".
That fish just ups the intensity.

My advice? Wander around because sometimes you get free shit. See above.
Not pictured: the free granola bar we got 2 minutes later.

So, here's a quick prompt:

Pick one of the snow sculptures and use it as photo-inspiration. Write a poem describing it or just thinking about the medium of snow in general. Since snow-sculpture is so transient, explore the impermanence of the art form. I'd advise starting from a freewrite and just playing around with the ideas. Then, get down and poetic with it. 

As always, feel free to share your results with us! Do you have a writing spot you love? Is there something you'd like us to journey to see? Have an event you'd like reviewed? Or maybe you have found the World's Best Cup of Coffee? Tell us about it: floodmark.editorial@gmail.com OR comment below!

via ramlijohn.com.