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Comment by sharkweek

2 years ago

I’m nearing 40 and when I’m at any beach with sand you better believe I’m gonna see how deep I can dig a hole. Brings back a lot of that childhood joy of being absolutely certain I was almost about to dig through the earth’s crust once it started to get hard.

Only about 19.999 miles short if we’re talking about averages.

35 comments

sharkweek

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hackstack  2 years ago

I’m in the same age bracket and hole-digging enthusiasm bracket as you but recently became aware of the dangers of this whimsical pastime! [1]

That’s not to dissuade you or anyone else from doing it (I have continued!), but I think everyone should be aware of the very real danger. As they say, knowing is half the battle!

1 - https://www.npr.org/2022/05/19/1100068725/beach-holes-sand-c...

  • cinntaile  2 years ago

    People digging holes on public beaches should fill them up again so other people don't risk getting injured.

  • willcipriano  2 years ago

    We have different definitions of "real danger"

    • hackstack  2 years ago

      I mean, I’m just saying the danger exists (which is what “real” means to me) and people should be aware of it. Not that people shouldn’t dig big holes. I thought that was clear in my original comment but evidently not.

      2 replies →

Arrath  2 years ago

The fact that digging a hole on the beach somehow summons children and adults both out of thin air excited about the project and offering to help is something I love oh so much.

The best I've done was a three tier well rounded circle about 15 feet across and it took the better part of two days for an entire house party size crew to dig. In tiers because it was sunken seating around an even more sunken firepit, to keep it out of the wind and solve the smoke-in-faces problem. While sitting on the first level your shoulders would be level with the surrounding ground. Far enough back to be above the tide, and when not in use we put traffic cones around it so it would be at least a little obvious in the dark and not a death pit. Filling it in at the end of our trip was a ballache but the only proper thing to do.

lostlogin  2 years ago

Building a dam on a stream can be like this too.

  • fudged71  2 years ago

    For 10 years I’ve been building hotspring pools at one spring. The material you add gets coated in limestone deposits pretty quickly. So it really feels like building a legacy for my young ones to play in when they’re older.

  • xattt  2 years ago

    We’ll build trenches from the waterline to see how far into the beach can make water flow.

    A good mash-up in building beach holes and water play.

riffraff  2 years ago

I'm past 40, my older child is 9.

First time I went to the beach with her, I had this sudden memory blast: we should dig a hole. It is indeed a weirdly satisfying feeling which I had forgotten.