Winter’s just ’round the corner, and for those of us dumb enough to live in cold climate, that means snow. The multipurpose precipitation can be used for wintry sports, ammo against Robert Gibbs, and impermanent artworks. December once heralded the start of Calvin’s eclectic snowmen in Bill Watterson’s inimitable comic strip. The complete works are available here, but we’ve shoveled out the best in snow:

10. Calvin’s dad was the best father in the funny pages–exasperated, sure, but still smart enough to give his sassy kid some sass right back.

9. Watterson always dealt with death in Calvin quite gracefully (see the famous dead bird strip), but the inanimate snowmen explored the odd preoccupation with suffering had by young boys.

8. Calvin always references his own anonymous friends and enemies, though his only friend was Hobbes and his only enemy was girl next door Susie. The grandiose delusions of Calvin speak to how small it truly feels to be child.

7. Calvin endured an endless fight for independence, bound by necessary rules any responsible parent would enforce. Often, his imagination would do the talking for him.

6. Childlike imagination has its limits, and the best laughs were had when Calvin recognized the fallibility of his creations.

5. Calvin was passively optimistic. If he was unhappy, he ignored the things that depressed him. If he was unwilling to work at something, he pretended to be satisfied with whatever he’s already accomplished.

4. Again, I love Calvin’s dad and the interactions between the two. What might superficially seem like a child annoying his father is often just a kid clamoring for even more attention from the man he most admires.

3. Philosophy and existentialism were a recurring themes in the strip (the tiger’s name is Hobbes, after all). Calvin accepted the bizarreness and futility of life with the matter-of-factness of a young Albert Camus.

2. Existentialism again, only this time with a side of sociopathy.

1. Calvin saw all sides of humanity through his snowmen, from our starry-eyed optimism to our inevitable contempt for one another and ourselves. I maintain that Calvin said more in three vertically stacked snowballs, some coal, sticks and a carrot than was ever said in David and the Venus de Milo combined.