Sand Castles

When I was a little girl, back in the late 1950's, we occasionally went to the beach at Hammonasset.  The last time that we were there, I met a young boy who changed my life.  He was part of a large family and they made the largest, most elaborate sand castle that I ever saw in my life!  It had towers and turrets and moats filled with water and even a drawbridge.  I saw it and immediately I wanted to build one just like it, so I took my bucket, filled it up and dumped it out on the sand- and it just collapsed.  I did it over and over again- tried again and again- and every time that I tried- it still just collapsed. Finally, one of the boys in the family came over and showed me how to get the sand to mound- all that it took was a little water.  He stayed with me and we eventually got a fairly nice but small castle built with a little moat and a bridge before he had to go.  I don't know who he was but I remember that he came from New York City- from a part on Long Island.  If you recognize yourself here, just always know that I never forgot how to make sand stick together and I taught almost everyone that I ever played with.  Thank you.  You never know how something little that you do will affect someone, but I've always been grateful to that little boy who showed me how to build sand castles.

Here is a picture of me and my family on the beach at Hammonasset. Might have even been the same day! No point to this point- just following an inspiration...