The holiday season has come to Albuquerque, made evident to westbound I-40 drivers by the appearance of the annual Tumbleweed Snowman.
The creature has shown up on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving for decades, courtesy of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority.
As the name implies, the snowman is constructed from three stacked tumbleweeds. His look is, for the most part, completed with recycled materials: scrap-metal eyes, an ax handle for a nose and a 55-gallon drum for a hat. His scarf was knitted by the mother-in-law of a maintenance crew member.
The tradition began in 1995 and the snowman has gotten bigger over the years. He’s now at least 12 feet tall. The snowman is near the exit for University Boulevard and Second and Fourth streets.