It's been frosty lately, but snowmen have been largely absent from the yards and playgrounds of North Kingstown. That is, except for one house on Shermantown Road.

You may have seen it in your travels: a three-foot-tall snowman on a stone ledge, complete with winter hat, scarf and goggles with a part of a fan belt for a mouth. So where did this crystalline concoction come from?

According to homeowner Cindy Hoogasian of 730 Shermantown Road, this little guy hails from the treacherous north that is Maine (i.e. where Mother Nature has realized it is actually winter and bestowed snow upon the land). After a trip up to their property in Maine, the Hoogasians' friends hauled a pile of snow in the bed of their truck down to Rhode Island, plopping the mound of snow on the Hoogasians' property. With temperatures in the 50s that day, Cindy worked quickly to build what she had been hoping to make all winter – a snowman.

The Hoogasians' snowman has lost some weight in the past few days, but – as far as we can tell – he still holds the title of North Kingstown's lone snowman.  The Hoogasians, who own a snowplowing business, have been anxiously awaiting snow this winter – a far cry from this time last year when we had about a foot of snow on the ground.