Sand Castle....

I love building sand castles. But I like to think that I don’t build them like other people. Over the years I’ve observed a number of different styles. First is the ‘vanilla’ shoveller, using the small plastic spade that came with a bucket from Woolworths (for the prepared person who brought it to the beach with them) or for twice the price from the convenient beach shop. Then there is the ‘family feud’, usually caused when you arrive at the beach without any equipment, buy one set from the beach shop, but not two since it is extortionately priced, which means that your children squabble over the spade, until one realises that using the bucket as a scoop is actually much more efficient and fun, which results in the spade being ignored and battle commencing over the bucket. Then you find the ‘doggy naturalist’ who simply uses their hands to scoop sand backwards between their legs  - but its shallow as when you reach the wet sand it becomes less effective. Occasionally you come across an x-treme improviser who uses an empty cool box.

But they’re not really building, they’re piling. Their aim seems to be to make the biggest mound of sand they can, make a sand pie at the top, stick a flag in it and call it a castle. It’s not –it’s a heap.

Me, I like to think that I put a little bit more thought and effort into making a castle. In fact I like to think that I make it in my own image. Visionary – I usually mark out a square, at least a metre across, sometimes bigger…. Precise – a trench is dug around this square to make a moat, the sand from the trench used to carefully build a raised , levelled base on which I’ll build the walls which will come exactly to the edge of this base…. Accurate – walls, towers, the inner keep and barbican are all sited as they would be in a real castle, providing overlapping lines of site for my imaginary archers with no blind spots…. Purposeful – a castle was designed to dominate its surroundings, and my castles are the same. They are built to make a statement. They are built to awe other beach visitors. To say to them they can just turn around and go home – that their piles of sand dare not occupy the same stretch of coast as my magnificent edifice. It is to make small boys look up to their fathers and say “Don’t bother Dad, it could never be as good as that. It’s wonderful….”

Comments

[Beat Attitude]

Strategically placed castle...oh no wait, he has got shorts on. Phew...