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Flag’s Day Castle
After the spirit-boosting "Mama's Kitchen", Wally and I were psyched up. We started telling people that we would be building a 12-foot castle on Friday. Of course they all stared at us in amazement, looking around asking, "Will you be using ladders?" Ha ha. That's one thing I'm glad we didn't have to pack. So, on Thursday night around 8pm, we started laying the foundation for our next piece. The work continued after the sun set, by illuminating our shoveling by several greenish glow sticks. You talk about “making a memory”! My daughter, Rachel, and Wally’s daughter, Becca, both “danced” around inside our forms, packing sand with their feet, while sand came flying at them from all sides. At 10pm we had a 2 foot high, 6-foot diameter base with two more 18" forms above it. Total height: 5 feet. Tired and sandy, we drug ourselves up to the condo and threw ourselves in the pool. Boy, that feels good! (Note to self: always bring a pool with you on a sand carving expedition.)
The next day, Wally and I finished the pound up for a total height of 12 feet. But, disaster struck as we were removing one of the upper forms, and the top part of the castle crumbled down. I also managed to take a tumble off the top, so now I know what it feels like to fall off of a sandcastle. (Next time, better balance, Ron!) Not to be discouraged, We put up a smaller form for the top and kept on working. We'd have a ten footer for sure. At one point later in the afternoon, I heard Wally describing a carving technique to someone and when I looked up, he had added two newcomers to the enveloping project. The Spalding sisters took quickly to the sand, employing some very nice techniques. Why they even helped us with some "rocks" and added two very nice tall cottages (see picture above) to the north side of the castle. Nice touch with the “triangular” styled doorways. I like it!
Dinner time came and went, so our lovely wives brought chicken fajitas down to us, while the crowds pressed in for photos. Total building time: 26 man hours… (not counting our daughter’s help.) Come morning, we’d only lost the top 18 inches or so. This was attributable to a massive downpour of rain around 5am. (But at least no one knocked it down!!!!) I cleaned up the sculpture some and then it was time to pack the van(s); time to head for home. (It’s also a good thing I went down to do a little clean up…. You see, I found Wally’s keys sitting next to the castle. I guess he got so into carving, that he left his room keys behind. Boy, can I relate!) The above picture is also available in a larger size in The Wallpaper Zone
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