One small boy about the age of seven, who's name just happened to be Stevie, was uprooted from his home in Upstate New York to a new home in Arizona, where his father had been transferred with his company.
Stevie liked the idea of pretending to be an Arizona cowboy. He wore a cowboy hat and boots everywhere he went, even to church. But Christmas was coming and he knew there would be no chimney for Santa to come down. And he knew there would be no snow in which Santa's reindeer could frolic while pulling the sleigh.
Most of all Stevie knew he could not build a snowman. So he was a bit sad as December came along and there was no snow. He would go outside and look at the rocks, cacti, and sand, and wonder what he would do for a snowman.
His parents knew that he was sad about no snow or chimney. They appeased him by telling him that they had sent Santa a spare key to the front door. But there was no way they could appease the fact that there would be no snow.
Christmas Eve arrived and of course there was no snow. Stevie tried to put a happy face on about it, but he wished he could have a snowman.
That night after Stevie went to sleep, his father went out and found two large tumbleweeds and one small one. He then staked the tumbleweeds on top of each other with a metal pipe so that they would not blow away. The small one sat on top for a head. With the help of Stevie's mother, he sprayed the tumbleweeds with imitation snow, the type you can buy in a can. Then together they dressed the snowman. An old raggedy hat sat on his head. Black paint made dots for eyes. Old sunglasses covered the eyes. A stick made a very good nose. Then red paint made the mouth.
Stevie's father parted with one of his pipes and it was stuck into the tumbleweed snowman at the place where the mouth was. The tumbleweed snowman was given arms of sticks. A tie was fastened around his neck. When it was done, it looked almost like a real snowman.
Stevie awoke in the morning and quickly demolished wrapping paper on his many presents under the tree. A red wagon was one of them, already assembled. He begged to be let out in the yard to play with it. When he spotted the tumbleweed snowman, he let out a squeal of joy. He promptly named it Frosty.
Frosty was a hit in the neighborhood. Many people drove by and smiled. He wasn't made of snow, but he sure took the gloom and frost out of a little boy's Christmas, and he brought sunshine to everyone who saw him.