Their fleeting nature makes both sandcastles and the season they represent infinitely more special.
And, that’s just one lesson sandcastles can teach.
They teach industry and teamwork, precision and design.
Stroll any beach and you’ll find tiny engineers digging with a universal concentration, carting water, and gathering shells and twigs.
In that timeless scene, neither the builders nor their tools have changed in all the years. Watch a group of kids build a sandcastle today, blink, and see the exact same seen from 1940. Only the length of the swim trunks has changed.
Best of all, they all know, have always known, that those magical structures will not withstand the ordinary onslaught of waves and wind and rain. Still, they build them every time, on every beach, in every country around the world.
Sandcastles represent both art and childhood in their purest form.
We stopped by a sandcastle building demonstration Saturday afternoon, enjoyed a lesson in technique, admired the professional displays and then, naturally, watched as our smaller people dug in.
An unexpected downpour shortened our visit, but we’d accomplished our goal anyway.
We came, we saw, we admired, we dug, we carted, we shaped, we built and then, soggy, sandy and satisfied, we left it behind.
