Snowy: An epic tale of love, romance, despair, betrayal, hope and re-birth.

Snowy’s Christmas Wonderland starts with sadness but ends in joy. A classic story of boy meets snowman, snowman meets boy and where did the yellow snow come from? The story begins here.

As some of you may remember, when I returned home after my liver transplant I was met with a scene of horror, sadness, desolation, terror, and not to put to finer a point on it, devastation. Snowy.bak was deceased. To this day I don’t know what killed Snowy.bak. Was it the drawing in of the days as we approached winter, the frigid and plunging temperatures or, perhaps, he pined away because I had been away for so long? We shall never know. But there was more to this story than I let on at the time.

What you may not know was that Snowy.bak was my replacement for the original Snowy. I will never forget the day I came downstairs to find Snowy dead. It didn’t matter how many times I turned the power on and off, Snowy would not light up. I begged Snowy to come back, not to leave me all alone and to come back so we could re-live some of the happiest days I had ever had. But no, Snowy just sat there with his cheeky grin and carrot for a nose, never to light up again. I vowed then that I would never replace Snowy.

However, as time went by I thought, would Snowy want this? Deep down I felt that Snowy was calling to me. Desperate, perhaps, to remind me of the happy times we had had together or, was it my inability to cope with my loss and grief. It was the classic do or die, fight or flight, ying and yang, early bid catches the worm fiendishly complicated situation. After many hours spent in my zen retreat I reconsidered my vow and decided to buy Snowy.bak. Snowy.bak could never replace Snowy and his permanently fitted 40W equivalent LED light bulb, bright red nose and warm scarf, and wasn’t meant to. Snowy.bak had his own personality, cheeky outlook and 50 multicoloured LED bulbs with 8 different lighting settings. We hit it off straight away and within days he was put together, mounted on some marine ply and proudly put up with Pingu and Pinga, the penguins with 40 white LED lights and an 8m lead, Razzle, my reindeer, with his sleigh and 60 multicolor LED bulbs and 8m lead and my set of three Christmas boxes with 40 multicoloured LED bulbs between them and 5m lead. For a whole year there was peace on earth.

We then get to our starting point of our story where I came back with my new liver but Snowy.bak was dead. What should have been a happy and triumphant return from the hospital was suddenly tainted by the loss of Snowy.bak. Christmas 2024 could have been so much more.

Again I was left to contemplate whether I should replace Snowy.bak however this time the decision was easier. Whilst our short time together had been magical it had not matched the heights of the open, loving and passionate romance that Snowy and I had had. Snowy.bak.bak was purchased and duly delivered, put together and turned on successfully. 64 Bright Ice White LED Lights with an 8 meter lead in cable. Not multicoloured bulbs but, nevertheless, beautiful in his own cocky and if I dare say, slightly impish way. Then came the sad moment that I had to take Snowy.bak down from his pride of place to be taken on his final journey. A journey of sadness and sorrow, but also one of happy memories of our short time together.

On taking him down I thought I would give him one last and final hug, to remind me of those moments of gay abandonment that we had together. As I did I found a kink in his 8 meter lead in wire. Could this be the reason for Snowy.bak’s death. I urgently rushed to my tool box, more in hope than expectation, found my wire strippers, electrical connecting blocks and Gorilla tape (other brands of tape are available). I put Snowy.bak on the operating table and begun the operation. As the minutes ticked by the sweat on my brow became more noticeable as my fingers worked like a whirling dervish. The snick of the wire cutters echoed eerily around the dining room as wire after wire was cut and then reconnected. Finally the last piece of tape was applied. The moment had arrived. I plugged Snowy.bak into the mains and turned the plug on. Nothing. It had been a long shot, one final throw of the dice, but it failed.

As I cleared up following the operation a fleeting thought crossed my mind. Could it possibly be? Such a small part of Snowy.bak? A basic bit that could never fail? A CubePlug 31V 3.6W Transformer with 8 Modes, Memory & 6 Hour Timer and multifunction button. Without much hope I replaced Snowy.bak’s existing CubePlug 31V 3.6W Transformer with 8 Modes, Memory & 6 Hour Timer and multifunction button (3.6W) with a new CubePlug 31V 3.6W Transformer with 8 Modes, Memory & 6 Hour Timer and multifunction button (3.6W). I plugged him in and flicked the switch without any hope. Suddenly a shriek emitted from my throat. Not one of horror or of desperation but one of hope, joy, love, desire, amazement, optimism and sheer delight. My bowels loosened up and a flock of butterflies flew around my stomach. Snowy.bak lit up and gave me that cheeky grin of his. HE WAS ALIVE. ALLELUIA. I had brought Snowy.bak back to life. Call me the life giver, the resurrector, the harbinger of hope.

As you can understand I was quite excited. Overcome with emotion I sobbed quietly to myself trying to come to terms with this most bodacious of moments. Snowy.bak was alive! Slightly battered from two years exposure to the elements but, nevertheless, alive. So my story about Snowy, Snowy.bak and Snowy.bak.bak is complete. This year Snowy.bak and Snowy.bak.bak will arise and return to their rightful poison next to Pingu and Pinga, the penguins with 40 white LED lights and an 8m lead, Razzle, my reindeer, with his sleigh and 60 multicolor LED bulbs and 8m lead and my set of three Christmas boxes with 40 multicoloured LED bulbs between them and 5m lead. And what, I hear you cry, about Snowy?

Snowy’s soul has gone to snowman heaven. However, due to my pure love, passion, adoration, affection, devotion, fondness, infatuation, and yearning for him I couldn’t just abandon him to the dark, eternal, never-ending, everlasting, perpetual, permanent, relentless , timeless, unceasing, and unremitting depths of my local refuse and recycling centre so I have kept his body and placed him in a position of honour in my garage, overlooking all my other Christmas decorations and tat during the dark times of spring, summer and autumn when thoughts are far from Christmas. Snowy will bring them all hope in the dark times, readying them to spring back to their full glory at Christmas.

Snowy will never be forgotten.