bug city

[asakiyume]

Yesterday morning I saw a construction across the asphalt path that runs through the common area in our neighborhood. It was a long stick, and leaning on the stick were smaller sticks and twigs, bits of lichen-covered bark, and moss. It looked as if ambitious small-scale beavers had decided the path was a flow of water and were attempting to dam it.

Later in the day I was passing by again, and three little kids, two boys and a girl, were happily at work on it. It was, they told me, a bug city, complete with bridges, roads, parks, districts--everything.




This morning Wakanomori and I found it expanded, so I took a video:

Watch on YouTube

They were all so wholly engaged with the work, excited and happy, feeding off each other's ideas.

What White Horses, Nazca lines, pyramids, citadels, or hanging gardens did you get up to creating in childhood? Or now, for that matter?

Comments

[asakiyume]

The bigger the blanket fort, the better! Yeah, we had fun making those using couch cushions and blankets.

That's so cool about the clay and the bowl. I've always wanted to find "wild" clay but so far I haven't (... I haven't exerted myself too hard, it has to be said, but when I happen to look, I don't see any).

What percent of the time were you able to extract your foot without the top of the tunnel collapsing?

[light_of_summer]

As far as I can remember, if the sand was good and damp, and if I was careful, the bridge might hold up enough for me to get my foot out maybe two times out of three?

But the more the sand dried out, the more likely collapse was. I think if I left even a successful bridge for long enough to dry out, it would collapse unattended.

I wonder if the surface tension of the water was what made it hold together...

[asakiyume]

That's definitely a high enough success rate to want to keep trying, and a high enough failure rate that success isn't guaranteed, making each success a triumph.