|
|
Fortress B260Home \ Fortresses \ Nov-Dec 2000 \ B260
Location: Bellows Beach |
Sunday, November 26, 2000
It had been almost a month since I last went to the beach for fortress building,
and even today Lisa and I didn't leave
for the beach until 2:00 in the afternoon. It's late Fall now so there would be
less sun time than I had been accustomed to. Since I knew we wouldn't have much
time, I decided to build something small. High tide was around 3:00 pm, not
practical for a drainage system.
-Shut up and get to the pictures-
Lisa had been fighting a cold but wanted to get some sun time. I just wanted to blow the cob webs off my sand carving tools. I went right to work and quickly stacked up a pair of towers with enough of a wall between them for a nice arch.
Once the stacking was completed, I stood there over the towers for a minute, trying to decide what kind of design to give this fortress. I started by giving the first tower a four-sided pyramid design, and hated it almost immediately. I kept carving though, making both towers tall, straight and square, each with the same top. I didn't like them much. The whole fortress sort of took on a more traditional "castle" appearance, a departure from the normal futuristic theme, and it didn't appeal as much to me. So I blew it up with firecrackers.
But first, I took a few pictures. A couple from Montana walked by and asked if they could take a picture of it. The woman had me stand in front of the fortress. She took a few more while what I presumed was her husband and I talked about the sand and I gave my usual explanation of how the fortress was made using just sand and water. I told them about this web site and asked if they had access to the Internet. They said they did so perhaps they'll email me the digital pictures they took of it and me and them.
After they left, I started with the demolition. I bored a small hole into part of the arch and jammed a pack of four firecrackers into it. I lit the fuse and tried to take a picture as it blew. I'm not sure if the photo came out, but I guess I'll find out. As for the damage, it didn't do much. I stuck some more firecrackers into other parts, but I guess I built it too sturdy because the explosives didn't do a whole lot of damage. I'll have to find some bigger explosives.
The explosives left black powder burns in the holes they created and made it look like the fortress had stood up to an attack by a well-armed fighting force. I predict a more forceful attack next time.
It was getting late and it was time for me and Lisa to go home so I halted the demolition and left the beach, leaving the damaged fortress behind. We had a leisurely, pleasant drive home looking out across the ocean as the sun set.
Photo Placement Map
|
|
Photographs Chronologically