Sanding down Game of Thrones
It jolted into the air exactly like the stirring opening of Game of Thrones.
Stately. Formidable. Yet vulnerable to crumbling from pressure.
Hear that “Game of Thrones” opening song? ©
They are bound to have known full well that a surge had already invaded the fortress to the south leaving it in ruins.
Silent. Pooling every grain of its’ resources and resolve.
Summer is coming! Summer is coming!
A tide of dangers: Big feet, heavy grill assaults, unruly dogs, and the most feared Wildings of all: children.
Little wonder the inhabitants are not responding to inquiries.
Drop that water pail! You may approach slowly, carefully. Watch your step ©
Summer time is not on their side.
Doomed in the dunes.
“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.” (T.S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”.)
No way. It tastes nasty and won’t hold still for sniffs. Dubious stuff. ©
“The Sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect.” (Carl Sandburg, “Two Nocturnes”)
Release those dragons, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea!
Or at least tether a dragon kite to the keep.
Is he the lookout, advanced guard, guardian, or welcoming committee? East Beach bordering the Texas State Park beach area where no cars are allowed. Galveston, TX.©
When a nation goes down, or a society perishes, one condition may always be found; they forgot where they came from. They lost sight of what had brought them along.” (Carl Sandburg)
Waiting for an ending yet to be written.©
Just a splash away,
Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge.
May 30, 2015. Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) hosts architects, designers, and engineers for one of the world’s largest sandcastle competitions. (East Beach). The competitions started in 1986. Info and 2014 pictures here.
“You tell him to move.”
“No, you tell him.”
“He’s faking it. Hiding one leg. Some will do anything to park close.” ©
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Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge 
Poor Molly! Mom won’t let you roll, eat, or go near the stinky stuff.
Nancy
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Molly seems to be a fresh water dog. She will not get in the water at the beach – we have to drag her towards it. Either it’s too loud, moves too much, or just too weird for her or something. Working on it by showing her other dogs splashing around at the beach. But the wealth of odd souvenirs at the beach thrills her…(will have to post pictures of her collection sometime)..Meanwhile “Drop it. No you can’t drag that home”….Thanks for splashing along!
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Wow, was that a sand castle you just happened upon? It’s magnificent. Puts to shame any I’ve ever attempted!
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It was just standing there unattended. A much larger one had already been soaked by incoming tide. Wonder if these are practice for the big contest. I was always good at digging holes, I mean, moats, but that’s about it…and we had to fill them back in before we left so no one would break a leg. Thanks for digging in with a comment
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Yes, I saw a sandcastle competition once. Of course, I don’t remember where, but it was amazing.
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Last year Molly kept barking at this huge sand dragon…maybe she wanted it to wake up and protect the castles.
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No doubt she has it in her. 🙂
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sadly summer time is NO beachtime for us, dogs are banned on our beaches… probably because to protect them from empty glass bottles and all the trash humans throw around there…so no dead crabs in the car and no rotten oysters in our crib :o)
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They banned glass instead of banning dogs here. This day there were dog walkers with packs on leashes (all so well behaved, Molly, see?) Dogs are usually leashed (mandated on the park beaches where we usually go), but a game of dog frisbee isn’t uncommon in some areas. What about driftwood? Molly’s favorite souvenir…that somehow disappears before we get home. Paw waves, Easy! Thanks for trotting by to chat.
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Molly is a smart girl. That water that chases you is not to be trusted. My horses feel the same way when we get to the surf.
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That wave action bothers her terribly…even ignore birds standing in the surf within chasing distance. One thing she does approve of is the floating souvenirs that are offered up! Thanks for galloping along
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Oddly enough, I just happened upon a sand castle last week (4/29) that looked just like this one – at Galveston Island State Park. I posted it on one of the challenges on my blog. Small world?
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Same one. I just held the pix for Monday’s post. Can’t wait to see the constructions of this year’s contest. They are generous with sharing sandcastle building tips…if only they would spill the tips for having that much patience! Thanks for kicking some sandy comments into this dune
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Wonderful shots of the beach, Molly and the ocean (and seagulls) Phil. She doesn’t look too happy standing in the surf.
As an aside, I was checking headlines early this morning and saw that some idiot decided to have a cartoon Mohammed contest in Dallas. Surprise! people started shooting. My, oh, my what has the world come to when you can’t say “F*ck your religion, I want to see if I can get you to shoot at me.” Mission accomplished.
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Molly is still too worried about the surf to be coaxed in to play. We’ve try to show her other dogs romping in the water… not really interested. But she does love collecting souvenirs. The weather is getting hotter, so not sure if there will be many more beach trips for a long-haired dark colored dog.
What? You read those instead of clicking the “Splash” link? Oh, you’re forgiven.(giggles) So many proclaim and mouth “free speech” but too many really mean “Individuals/groups can only say what I agree with.” Price of freedom: everyone gets insulted as one time or another. I can deal with that.Let people draw insulting comics.You don’t have to read them and can walk away. Let everyone have the right to verbalize protests when angry or insulted. But no one has the right to kill another because they are mad or dislike the other’s opinions. That’s the line.
(In that link. Interesting info about the religious traditions about portraying Muhammed by Muslims – and when it was allowed and by which groups – In the 9th century it was prohibited to portray images of humans at all. Many people don’t realize that. It’s still banned some places. Some classic/ancient art works are destroyed with that as an excuse So I guess everyone should be careful taking selfies, having portraits done – Oh, wait, does that ban include TV shows and “News”? Really Win-win!)
Sandcastles are delicate and always at risk. Such is life. Sometimes you just have to dog paddle with the tide. Thanks for splashing down with a comment
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I love all the captions. Especially the reserved parking. Too funny! Love the sand castle.
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That bird was so funny – nothing was going to make him move (and we did see him tuck up that leg when he saw us coming his way) Thanks for sanding up a comment
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LOL! I love the captions, especially the last one. I love the ephemeral art of sand sculpture. I keep forgetting that they do that in Ocean City, not far from us. Thanks for the walk on the beach. It’s been a while since I’ve dipped my toes in the sand or the ocean.
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Bet you can glimpse some sandy triumphs there, too. Sandcastles, breeze, waves, and sun – the beach is meditation…except on holidays and summer weekends, maybe. Glad you got a giggle. Thanks for adding a comment to the sandy bucket
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Another interesting post, Phil. I’m so glad I found you in the teeming blogosphere. I particularly like the Carl Sandburg quote. It brought to mind the JFK quote which is one of my favorites:
“I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.
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JFK was a sailor, too. Interesting that the moon affects salt water tides, and sometimes people. Thanks for scooping up a great comment to add!
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Maybe she’s a spa pool kinda dog!
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We knew there was some reason. Leave it to us to adopt a high maintenance diva. Castle worthy astute comment!Thanks
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I am not attracted to that salty water either, Molly..I only like it when I put my paw in it to make it move 😀 The seagulls and captions are great, Philmouse. Pawkisses for a Great Day 🙂 ❤
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Molly loves to walk on the sand and all the breeze, but no way is she getting in that water. Inching a bit closer each time, but it’s too weird for her. But nice big bowls of water? Perfect to paw splash in. Thanks for strolling along!
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I was a badass sand castle maker in my day!
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Some just have the knack. If you need a moat digger, let me know.Thanks for tunneling over to chat
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My cousin, who went on to major in Graphic Arts, was the best little girl castle builder I ever saw. In her heyday she’d build her linear multi-storied structure, then embellish it with dripping sand gutters. Divine creations, that could put any grown-up engineer to shame.
That being said, it’s been so long since I’ve been near an ocean. Your photos of the beach are tugging at my heart strings. I miss that piece of my life. *sigh*
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I remember some builders would stir up water and sand to just the right consistency then dribble is over like cake icing embellishments creating a Victorian architecture look. Mine looked more like edge of the border/frontier defense lumps. The beaches are nice to stroll and build sandcastles now, but once summer starts, it’s chaos. We’ll both have to just dream then. Thanks for scooping up a comment to leave
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I love GOT. When you said, ‘hear the opening music’, I actually could. It’s the sole reason I sprang for HBO. And you probably have seen those huge herons flying over in Florida too. My son and I used to call them teradactyls because they would block the sun when their enormous wing span crossed over on the way to the pond. I think of them as my personal ‘dragons’. Khaleesi has nothing on me!
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I was hoping to see some of those “teradactyls” and get a good picture of one to add – but guess they were all hanging out around the Strand piers or over at the other end of the island scolding the kite surfers. That is quite a theme song. Certainly branded the series. Thanks for coaxing a comment to land here
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I’ll work on getting the birds in a flyover!
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That would be much appreciated! (Isn’t it odd how sometimes they just seem to hang there still in the sky?)
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Don’t you think all of the other birds are somewhat frightened of them? Yikes!
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Everything seems to steer clear of them – respect, admiration, fear, or has each bird has been assigned a flight path?
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How big is the castle? Hard to tell.
I had to laugh at the bird pictures, too – but for a different reason. My mom was a newspaper editor for our local, on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Anytime they published a filler photo of a seagull or pelican perching on a dock piling they called it a ‘bird-sickle’ – bird on a stick!
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Bird-sickle. That’s perfect. That one was not moving for anything. The sandcastle was a little over 2 feet high. You can’t see, but the roof had straw-like texture and individual stone markings We ran across the site of a “melted” by surf castle that must have been 4 feet across at the base when it was standing. The contest entries get really big. Fingers crossed it doesn’t rain that weekend. Thanks for stacking up a comment
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