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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

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.

lostlogin 3y ago
Building a dam on a stream can be like this too.
- fudged71 3y 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.
  - bongodongobob 3y ago
    Careful, generally, diverting or otherwise messing with the flow of waterways is illegal. Got a talking to from a DNR officer when I was a kid.
    - explaininjs 3y ago
      Not just illegal, the potential impact on a waterbed is huge. I spoke at length with a BLM hydrologist about this, artificial deepening of discrete hot spring pools can and has caused entire areas to wash out into a uniform warm muck.
      - bozhark 3y ago
        Y’all realize they change all the time, right?
        explaininjs 3y ago
        I'm sure you know much more about natural rates of mineral deposition and erosion and the potential effects of altering them than a literal industry professional with decades of experience.
    - ctrw 3y ago
      Those terrorist bevers must be stopped at all costs.
      - mmh0000 3y ago
        You’re joking, but there is concern about the environmental damage beavers cause. https://courses.hamilton.edu/beavers/conservation-and-destruction-a-paradox https://courses.hamilton.edu/beavers/conservation-and-destru...
        ctrw 3y ago
        Ok I'll bite. How did the world survive for millions of years with bevers around before we killed most of them on every continent?
        eru 3y ago
        Just to play devil's advocate: the first algae were extremely damaging to the environment by releasing toxic oxygen. Of course, that took millions of years to take effect. So beavers could in principle also be damaging, but taking a long time to kill. (And, of course, nowadays a lot of organisms have come to depend on the once-toxic emissions of algae. Beavers might have a similar effect on the ecosystem.) See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_Event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_Event
        bongodongobob 3y ago
        Killing off nearly all the wolves, mountain lions, lynx, bears, coyotes, foxes, etc, is probably a good chunk of the problem when talking about small mammal populations.
        s0ss 3y ago
        They must be stopped!
        newsclues 3y ago
        The environment causes environmental damage as part of the natural cycle of life.
    - eru 3y ago
      You say 'generally', but then talk about officials of one very specific country?
      - lazyasciiart 3y ago
        Yes, probably only relevant to 80% of his potential readers. What tosh!
        morsch 3y ago
        Less than 50%, actually, though I doubt that it's true that it only applies to the US. Children usually get a free pass because their meddling is ineffective or impermanent. https://web.archive.org/web/20230515211304/https://toolhub.tech/blog/Demographics-of-Hacker-News/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230515211304/https://toolhub.t...
        cykros 3y ago
        And furthermore, they're too busy writing tickets to the beavers, who are doing the real damage.
        happytiger 3y ago
        Not on this forum. The industriousness of the hacker news kids is legend.
        bongodongobob 3y ago
        Right, we didn't get a ticket. But a handful of 13 year old boys can move some pretty big logs and trees. It was made very clear that we were not to fuck with the creek or any other waterways, and it was serious business. We had to rip the dam apart and he told us to never do it again.
        lazyasciiart 3y ago
        Fascinating data, thanks!
- xattt 3y 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.
hackstack 3y 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-collapse-deaths https://www.npr.org/2022/05/19/1100068725/beach-holes-sand-c...
- emmelaich 3y ago
  Absolutely, I had a near-death experience myself.
- cinntaile 3y ago
  People digging holes on public beaches should fill them up again so other people don't risk getting injured.
- willcipriano 3y ago
  We have different definitions of "real danger"
  - hackstack 3y 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.
    - willcipriano 3y ago
      Real danger is something that is likely to happen. The sorts of things that end up on "top ten weird deaths" youtube videos aren't in that category.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
riffraff 3y 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.
Arrath 3y 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.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
JimDabell 3y ago
If you dig it right, you might end up on the news as a “cosmic event”! https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hole-dublin-beach-crater-meteorite-b2411850.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hole-dublin-...

lostlogin 3y ago

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

fudged71 3y 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.
- bongodongobob 3y ago
  Careful, generally, diverting or otherwise messing with the flow of waterways is illegal. Got a talking to from a DNR officer when I was a kid.
  - explaininjs 3y ago
    Not just illegal, the potential impact on a waterbed is huge. I spoke at length with a BLM hydrologist about this, artificial deepening of discrete hot spring pools can and has caused entire areas to wash out into a uniform warm muck.
    - bozhark 3y ago
      Y’all realize they change all the time, right?
      - explaininjs 3y ago
        I'm sure you know much more about natural rates of mineral deposition and erosion and the potential effects of altering them than a literal industry professional with decades of experience.
  - ctrw 3y ago
    Those terrorist bevers must be stopped at all costs.
    - mmh0000 3y ago
      You’re joking, but there is concern about the environmental damage beavers cause. https://courses.hamilton.edu/beavers/conservation-and-destruction-a-paradox https://courses.hamilton.edu/beavers/conservation-and-destru...
      - ctrw 3y ago
        Ok I'll bite. How did the world survive for millions of years with bevers around before we killed most of them on every continent?
        eru 3y ago
        Just to play devil's advocate: the first algae were extremely damaging to the environment by releasing toxic oxygen. Of course, that took millions of years to take effect. So beavers could in principle also be damaging, but taking a long time to kill. (And, of course, nowadays a lot of organisms have come to depend on the once-toxic emissions of algae. Beavers might have a similar effect on the ecosystem.) See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_Event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_Event
        bongodongobob 3y ago
        Killing off nearly all the wolves, mountain lions, lynx, bears, coyotes, foxes, etc, is probably a good chunk of the problem when talking about small mammal populations.
      - s0ss 3y ago
        They must be stopped!
      - newsclues 3y ago
        The environment causes environmental damage as part of the natural cycle of life.
  - eru 3y ago
    You say 'generally', but then talk about officials of one very specific country?
    - lazyasciiart 3y ago
      Yes, probably only relevant to 80% of his potential readers. What tosh!
      - morsch 3y ago
        Less than 50%, actually, though I doubt that it's true that it only applies to the US. Children usually get a free pass because their meddling is ineffective or impermanent. https://web.archive.org/web/20230515211304/https://toolhub.tech/blog/Demographics-of-Hacker-News/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230515211304/https://toolhub.t...
        cykros 3y ago
        And furthermore, they're too busy writing tickets to the beavers, who are doing the real damage.
        happytiger 3y ago
        Not on this forum. The industriousness of the hacker news kids is legend.
        bongodongobob 3y ago
        Right, we didn't get a ticket. But a handful of 13 year old boys can move some pretty big logs and trees. It was made very clear that we were not to fuck with the creek or any other waterways, and it was serious business. We had to rip the dam apart and he told us to never do it again.
        lazyasciiart 3y ago
        Fascinating data, thanks!
xattt 3y 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.

hackstack 3y 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-collapse-deaths https://www.npr.org/2022/05/19/1100068725/beach-holes-sand-c...

emmelaich 3y ago
Absolutely, I had a near-death experience myself.
cinntaile 3y ago
People digging holes on public beaches should fill them up again so other people don't risk getting injured.
willcipriano 3y ago
We have different definitions of "real danger"
- hackstack 3y 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.
  - willcipriano 3y ago
    Real danger is something that is likely to happen. The sorts of things that end up on "top ten weird deaths" youtube videos aren't in that category.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]

riffraff 3y 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.

Arrath 3y 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.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

JimDabell 3y ago

If you dig it right, you might end up on the news as a “cosmic event”! https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hole-dublin-beach-crater-meteorite-b2411850.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hole-dublin-...