Sand Castles

What I love about walking on a beach is that surprises greet you every morning. Today I passed an intricate sandcastle complete with a moat, sailed boats, gabled turrets, winding staircases, toothed parapets and pine trees all fashioned from sand.

Sandcastles are magical. The elicit a time when princesses and kings, noblemen and knights, chivalry and splendor ruled the world. They are the stuff of fairy tales and we never give up on believing that fairy tales can come true.

Sandcastles are mystical. Here one day, gone the next. Fortresses built of silica, probably the second most available element on earth next to water; yet, subject to the whim of the sea.

Sandcastles are fragile. Not just the sea but beach wanderers can be their foe.

This is what was left of the sandcastle the next morning. I knew it was not going to last forever. Sandcastles never do. But there was something in the manner of its destruction that got to me. Not even childrens' footprints but those of adults. I listened to the waves washing up on shore and gradually recovered from my despair. It is the nature of things.

I had forgotten that like friends, sandcastles are also resilient. They re-surface unannounced. They make your day. They brighten your sky. They offer you a port in your storm.

So, imagine my surprise this morning when I passed that sorry trodden mound to find not one but two sandcastles!

Maybe tomorrow I'll walk a different beach so these sandcastles will live on forever in my memory. 

Calico Crabs

They weren't very large and they weren't very threatening but these Calico crabs that I found on the beach today were definitely entertaining. They walk sideways on the sand. Lots of crabs do that. Supposedly these crabs are very efficient swimmers as well. They have paddle like claws for this.

I saw the larger one first and hoping it was still alive, which it was,  I picked it up and set it down closer to the shore's edge. There I found the smaller one. He was playing possum too. When I picked them up they came to life, spreading their eight legs and front claws and maliciously waving them like swords. Then as soon as I set them down they gathered themselves like turtles. So I found a large clam shell and set it over both of them to protect them from other beach walkers. Maybe they'll become friends.