Sculpture on the beach

 Every August, we head to Maine, for a dose of the ocean.  

That's my husband, below, at Drake's Island Beach at Wells Preserve.

 I always post some photos of the sculpture we build out of beach sand on Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport.  In the past, I've shared Crazy Hary the Octopus, a big cat,a dragonfly, Melvin the Snail, a dragon, and  there have been more that weren't photographed.  My husband and adult son dig a huge pile of moist sand for me, I shape the sculpture, and my son lends a hand, particularly in the smoothing of the sand around the sculpture.  This is important in creating clean shadows so that you can really see the sculpture in the bright sunlight.

This year, my son's girlfriend joined us as well.  But they both had been ultra-busy with jobs and more, and were totally exhausted.  My son just didn't have the muscle power to do the work of previous years, and I could see he needed to rest more than anything.  Above, we all are sitting on the porch of a favorite Kennebunkport B&B, the Maine Stay.

Anyhow, back to the sculpture:  My husband and I dug a pile of sand, but it was not as big as previous years.  I've been watching spiders this summer, so I thought I'd build a big spider.  I shaped the spider, but with the hot sun and limited assistance, and smaller-than-intended size, it was mediocre.  Plus, the tide was coming in rather than going out, so the sand didn't have the moisture I would have liked, making it harder to shape.  I decided to put seaweed on the legs to make them look hairy, but  then the body looked awful.  The girlfriend collected a bunch of seaweed and suggested I use it to cover the whole body, so that's what I did.  It was a hot day, and I ran out of steam when it came time to clean up and smooth the sand around the sculpture (and I decided swimming in the ocean was a better choice), so the spider just doesn't have the planned impact.  For the first time ever, we weren't swarmed with kids asking to help.  People didn't stop to look at it or snap a photo.  I'm almost embarrassed to share the photos with you!

 

Meanwhile, the next day, while taking a walk at the beautiful and pristine Drake's Island Beach at the Wells Preserve, my husband and I encountered a sculpture on the beach.  It made me think of Robinson Crusoe, and I love that someone put so much time and thoughtfulness into building this incredible structure.  It was above the tide line, so it will probably be there for a while!  Here are several views of the sculpture. 

Another sunny day, another beach...  I love sun-bleached wood, and I came a rather large piece of 'driftwood'  in the tidal marshland area at Parson's Beach (below).  My husband has learned to ignore me when I ask him if we can bring home something like this...

or this beauty below, also at Parson's Beach. 

Below, incoming tide, at all three beaches