Ticket to Ride

That's what we had on Saturday with a day trip to view the 2026 Hampton Beach (NH) Sand Sculpting Classic. Nashua, NH, Transit System ran 2 buses that left and returned to the transit center. The $10 roundtrip cost was less than driving and paying for parking. 

The one downside was that traveling on a city bus for over an hour can be a bit uncomfortable as these are definitely not tour buses. But, we had a fun adventure and were joined by several friends which included other mill apartment residents.

The 3-day competition, sponsored by the Hampton Beach Village District, ran June 18-20. It brought together 10 master sand sculptors each working to bring their artistic visions to life in sand while knowing their creations would be short-lived.

The artistic creativity of these sand sculptors was amazing. The minute details in their work was unbelievable and so realistic from the scales on a snake, a cat’s fur, a small owl and the facial expressions on many.

Sponsorship sculptures created by The Grady Bunch

Each year there’s a sponsored theme. This year, it was From Sea to Shining Sea – America 250. Sponsorship sculptures aren’t created by competition sculptors, but are done ahead of time by competition organizer/master sculptor Greg Grady, Sr and his team, The Grady Bunch, who worked with 100 tons of sand to create the sculptures.

This year, the large sponsor site paid tribute to key symbols and figures in American history, including the Declaration of Independence, the bald eagle, Martin Luther King Jr., Benjamin Franklin, a Statue‑of‑Liberty‑inspired mermaid and Rosie the Riveter, representing women who powered the nation’s factories and shipyards during WW II.

The NH state motto was displayed in Live Free or Die featured Revolutionary War hero John Stark on horseback. 

26 Annual Hampton Beach Classic master sand sculptors from the U.S. (4), Russia (2), Latvia (2) and Canada (2).

Sculptors had three days to sculpt their masterpieces. There were 10 sand sculptures. It's a do-it-yourself competition and start and finish times must be followed. Only sand or water are, no lewd, rude or crude sculptures are allowed. Entries are judged on overall impact, technical skill and degree of difficulty. Along with battling the clock, this year sculptors dealt with the elements. Day one brought a torrential downpour, high winds on day two, and scattered showers on day three.

Judging a sand sculpture can be subjective, but there's a critical element — the Wow factor. Others include: artistic merit, originality, quality as a work of art, accurate proportions, expressive faces, degree of difficulty, technical skills, plot area and sand use.

Winners were announced late Saturday afternoon and are selected by an official panel of judges when the competition time expires.

Canadian sculptor Abe Waterman took first place and the Sculptors' Choice Award for his 21-foot-tall piece, The Height of Stupidity. The winning design set a Hampton Beach height record and earned Waterman the top $6,000 prize and the Sculptors Choice Award voted on by fellow competing sculptors.

The Height of Stupidity took 1st place and towered 20 feet

The towering sculpture depicts an AI‑powered robotic arm holding a skull toward the sky. Below it, Waterman carved human figures with their heads buried in the sand. He used scaffolding to reach the top and worked down. 

The sculpture's height was the tallest one this year. According to event organizers it was a "Hampton Beach record." Last year, Waterman created a 16-foot sculpture. Waterman previously won the Hampton Beach contest in 2018 and 2021.

Spiritual Affinity garnered the second place prize

Second place and a prize of $4,000 was awarded to Spiritual Affinity by Dmitry Klimenko from Saint Petersburg, Russia. Klimenko's sculpture shows two figures standing back‑to‑back, their garments and hair intertwined, with an owl perched between them.

Third place went to The Birth of Venus

Third place prize of $3,000 went to another Russian sculptor, Ilya Filimonstev from Moscow won for The Birth of Venus. The sculptor said he drew inspiration from both Hampton Beach and the famous Botticelli painting of the same name.

Waiting for the Sunrise captured fourth place, The People Choice and Governor's Awards

Waiting for the Sunset by Karlis Ile of Riga, Latvia, was the fourth place winner. The front of the sculpture shows the backs of a man and woman with a dog beside them as they watch the sunset. Walking around the other side, the dog is no longer with them in life, but remains present in spirit. The side facing the boardwalk shows them as a younger couple.

The public voted for the People's Choice awards at the competition end

The sculpture won two other awards as well — the People's Choice Award and NH Governor Kelly Ayote selected it for the Governor’s Choice Award. After the competition ended, Hampton beachgoers were allowed in the area to cast ballots for their favorite sculpture.

Go with the Flow was done by the 2025 winner

Last year’s winner and Hampton Beach favorite, Mélineige Beauregard, a native of Canada who now resides in FL, created Go with the Flow. Her intricate piece shows a woman rising from a swirling, circular form that looks part wave, part vortex. She had to recreate the sculpture after torrential downpours washed away much of the first day’s work. 

Ancestral Knowledge was by a long-time sand sculpter

Carl Jara of Cleveland, OH, said that he used the stormy first day as his “pound‑up day” to pack and shape the forms of his sculpture, Ancestral Knowledge. He was the only competitor to have competed in all 26 years of the competition.

Even though, other sculptures didn't win an award this year, their creations were still quite amazing and among my personal favorites.

Puss N Boots was the most whimsical creation

Five‑time world champion Karen Fralich brought a dose of fun with Puss 'N Bolts, a playful spin on the fairy tale "Puss in Boots." The piece was inspired by cats and steampunk. Puss is wearing a catnip machine and on the back is a catnip reservoir The dial shows it's nearly full which could be why he looks happy.

The sculptor of Revival drew inspiration from the myth of Medusa

Agnese Rudzite from Latvia  is an internationally acclaimed sculptor. Her sculpture, Revival, draws from the tragic myth of Medusa, a woman violated by Poseidon, then punished by being transformed into a Gorgon with venomous snakes for hair and a gaze that turned onlookers to stone. The female figure is a central theme in her sculptures. Rudzite sculpted Medusa as breaking away from evil snakes and then transforming back to a beautiful woman.

Joon Park was a first time participant with Born to Be

Born to Be was the creation of Joon Park is known as “JP” or the “JP Sandman” from California. His sculpture depicts a young prince wearing a paper crown and he's positioned between two halves of the king he will become in time.

Justin Gordon was the sole sand sculptor from New England

New England was represented by a sole self-taught sculptor, Justin Gordon from Gloveland, MA. His piece titled One Nation Under God had been heavily damaged by the rainstorm and large portions had to be redone. 

The sand sculptures are still available for viewing and all of them will remain on display through June 28. They're lighted for nightly viewing. Here's more information about the sculptures:

What are the sculptures made of?

Sand and water. Grains of sand are kept in contact with each other by compacting them together with water as the bonding agent. 

Beach sand is not used

Hampton Beach has round grains.Flat grains of sand compact and retain water better than round and will offer a more stable and longer lasting finished produce.The sand, 250 tons was delivered to the boardwalk from a NH quarry, then moved to the beach. Each sculptor was given 12 tons of sand and a plot size of 18 feet x 18 feet.

How do they stay together?

Sun, wind and gravity are enemies as the water canl drain and evaporate from the sun, allowing wind to blow it away. A wind screen is sprayed on the exterior shell after completion, a mix of school glue and water is the most common method. Rain isn't harmful to the sculpture if it's not torrential. A heavy rain can result in loss of fine detail as what happened last Friday.

How do they get so high?

Forms usually made from wood or plastic are placed one on top of the other gradually getting smaller towards the top, like a pyramid, removing the last form first and then carving down until finally removing all the forms. If this is not done carefully and properly, the sculpture will collapse. Completed structures have no support of any type. No assistance or power tools are used in their creation..

How long will sand sculptures last?

Sculptures can last quite a while if properly maintained and not damaged by the elements. But, these sand sculptures are temporary. They've been sprayed with a protective mixture of water and school glue while on public display. After that, the sand will be leveled back out into the beach by heavy machinery.

The 2027 dates for the Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Classic haven’t been officially announced, but it’s usually held in mid-to-late June. Just in case you're planning to visit NH in summer time.

Friday Funnies

This week I walked in downtown Nashua, NH, to a dental appointment and along the way passed several parking areas. The perfect spots to see vanity license plates.

Obviously, there's many NH residents who don’t mind the expense of these plates. Some can be rather amusing.

Others are quite simple, even if I can't quite grasp why the motorist felt compelled to have a vanity plate.

Some plates are more descriptive and easier to figure out.

On Saturday we're going to the 26th Annual Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Classic here in NH. Competitors from around the world are competing, including artists from Canada, Latvia, Russia and the U.S. Artists are working on a massive, 100-ton sponsor sculpture that reflects this year's theme, From Sea to Shining Sea – America 250.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're off to the beach sculptures, photos next week.

Apple Watch Took a Fall

If anyone wonders about the efficiency of an Apple watch being able to detect a fall and call emergency services, trust me this feature works. 

Even if you're not wearing the watch.

I know since last week my Apple watch called emergency services to report a hard fall.

How did that happen?

Before going to take a shower, I placed, perhaps tossed it and unbeknownst to me, it fell  behind a piece of bedroom furniture, which in turn triggered a call to emergency services.

Imagine my surprise after coming into the bedroom to hear a voice asking What is Your Emergency?

A dispatcher was asking my exact location, ready to send a paramedic unit to the mill apartments.

Unaware that the watch had fallen, I was somewhat confused. The Apple watch is designed to detect sudden, high-impact hard falls and while I've accidentally bumped it many times, it's never called emergency services. Calling on its own was a definite first.

Normally, If you're wearing  watch and it detects a hard fall, it taps your wrist, sounds an alarm and displays an alert. Then, depending on the situation, you can contact emergency services or dismiss the alert by tapping Close in the upper-left corner or tapping I'm OK. But, if the watch detects that you've been immobile for about 60 seconds, it will automatically call emergency services without any intervention on your part.

That's exactly what happened when my watch fell.

Calling emergency services is never to be taken lightly. After I told the dispatcher what had happened and apologized, the call was cancelled — not a moment too soon as the dispatcher was already contacting an emergency response unit.

Admittedly, this wasn't the first time, I'd activated Fall Detection. Months ago when on a step stool, I misjudged the last step, stepping down hard without a fall. Another time, I tripped on a curb and fell backward onto grass (Patrick was with me with no resulting injury).  Both times, the watch activated the feature, luckily was able to cancel in time.

If you own or are considering an Apple watch or other wearable device, there's many articles and videos about this features and others available online.

For those of us who are 55 or older, Fall Detection is turned on automatically when your age is entered in the iPhone's Health app. Those younger than 55 need to set up this feature.

Here's a few Fall Detection features on the Apple watch:

Fall Detection is exclusively an Apple Watch feature — not an iPhone feature and works whether your Apple watch (and connected iPhone) is locked or unlocked. You set it up on the iPhone Watch app.

Wrist detection must be active — the watch won't automatically call emergency services if it's disabled. To verify, go to Settings, select Passcode then make sure that it's turned on. 

Falls are automatically recorded in the Health app — unless you reply that you didn't fall when prompted by the watch. You can check your fall history, just open the Health app on your iPhone, tap Browse, tap Other Data, then tap Number of Times Fallen.

If you’re unresponsive after a hard fall — when the watch detects you’re immobile for a minute, it begins a 30-second countdown, tapping your wrist and sounding an alert. The alert gets louder, so that you or someone nearby can hear it. The watch will automatically contact emergency services with your location. If you don’t want to call emergency services, tap Cancel.

If you have emergency contacts set up — the watch sends a message to your emergency contacts telling them your location, that your watch detected a hard fall and contacted emergency services. If you use Emergency SOS, your emergency contacts won’t be automatically notified if the Messages app isn’t the selected text messaging app or is deleted. 

If the call has been made and you don't need emergency services — don't hang up. When a responder answers, explain that you don't need help. 

Why turn on Fall Detection?

For me, the answer is easy, it provides me with peace of mind. Accidents happen and I can take a fall anywhere as I walk a lot on the treadmill or outside, many times without Patrick or anyone else. I like knowing there's a way to call for help in a real emergency. 

Of course, there are many other wearables — watches and other medic alert devices with this and other safety features plus stories about how these have saved lives. This post is based only on my personal experience with wearing an Apple watch for several years. And, I also understand some folks prefer not to wear such devices, which is their choice.

Your turn — Do you wear an Apple watch or other device, if so, do you have a similar experience to share?

Friday Funnies

Today's Friday Funnies features wildlife seen around Nashua, NH, this week to show that humans aren't the only ones with fun moments.

Summertime is the time for outdoor dining, many downtown restaurants feature al fresco dining. This squirrel took advantage of sidewalk birdseed to grab a quick meal al fresco.

Meanwhile, on the Nashua River this bird was splish-splashing and taking a bath earlier this week. 

The expression getting your ducks in a row applied to this trio of male mallards.

Apparently, it starts at a young age too as this duckling trio followed a mother mallard.

These two pairs of female and male mallards were in a row and not in the water.

A couple of painted turtles were out on a limb as we walked along the riverwalk this week.

Meanwhile, this pair of mute swans took an afternoon siesta on the Nashua River.

It's been a hot and humid week, pollen levels have been considered moderate to high. The yellow dust is seen everywhere, especially on vehicles. 

Cooler temps are forecast for the coming week, maybe some needed rain as well.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're home, dining al fresco & enjoying the new riverwalk & park.

What's on the River?

The past few posts have focused on goings on with the recently completed riverwalk along the Nashua River adjacent to our mill apartment home.

We've been enjoying the riverwalk by taking early morning walks and after-dinner as well. There's been a lot to see both in the river, alongside the river bank and reflected in it. Of course, living so close provides us with conventient views of everything. 

There's a resident Great Blue Heron, who we've nicknamed Harry. This heron has been a frequent return visitor usually in the early mornings or early evenings. Great Blue Herons are solitary birds for the majority of the year. They hunt alone, defend feeding territories and even migrate alone.

One evening, earlier this week, a lone swan appeared on the river and revisited the next couple of days. This sighting of just one swan was unique as they are known for forming monogamous pair bonds that can last life-long. We wondered if this one had lost its mate.

So, we were happy to see that within a couple of days, there were suddenly two swans on the Nashua River that stayed together most of the afternoon. But, the pair might have been only passing through as we didn't see in the river the past couple of days.

We've seen families of Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese. The ducklings and goslings have been a delight to watch, especially when they follow in formation. The adults have kept a close watch on their young as Red Tail Hawks have been spotted in this area.

We counted 10 Painted Turtles sunning themselves on the riverbank, including a couple hanging out on a tree limb in the river. A river otter swam by very quickly, not posing for a photo. Cormorants are frequent visitors and the one above spent an afternoon perched on the fountain which currently isn't working. Perhaps hoping for a fish lunch or dinner.

Numerous wildflowers grow along the riverbank. Many of these in bright yellow include: Yellow Flag, Wild Radish, Hoary Cinquefoil, Tower Mustard, Jim Hill Mustard, St John's Wort.

More colors were seen in these blooms of Oxeye Daily, Hawkweed (or Pilosella) and common Dandelion, a persistant weed on lawns this time of year.

Splashes of purple and pink were seen in Violet's Dame, Spiderwort, Fleabane and Crown Vetch. Unfortunately, many of these wildflowers are considered invasive because of their aggressive spread through seeds and roots. However, they do add interest and color along the walk.

Our late afternoon and early evening walks have provided some great reflections when there's no breeze and the river is motionless. Unfortunately, this past week, there's been an increase in the pollen levels; however, it hasn't kept us from enjoying our walks.

Thanks for coming along for a stroll along the Nashua River.