Not your ordinary sand castles.

If you were told that you could get paid $6,000 a WEEK to play in the sand, stay in fancy hotels, eat amazing meals and get lots of publicity, would you do it? Ok, ok, so maybe play in the sand isn’t the correct word – but it feels funny saying “work” when I’m talking about sand. In any case, it appears that some people actually do make $6,000 a week to build sand castles. And that’s just not fair.

Or maybe it is. Ok, it definitely is. These aren’t just people playing with buckets – they’re educated mechanical engineers and teachers who happen to be really good at building stuff in sand. And apparently, people are paying them to do so.

I’m not knocking this at all – I actually think it’s fantastic that some artists can make a great living doing what they love. I’m just surprised by the numbers, that’s all. But then again, anyone who has visited a sand castle building competition has an idea that the sculptures truly are works of art.

So, as summer winds down, perhaps you should think about taking some sand castle building classes. Then, come next summer, you can charge upwards of $75/hour to give other people classes – it’s a fun, pretty low-stress way to make a living. Kind of like the kayak rental guy I met in Seagrove Beach who charged $30/hour per kayak to rent them out. He had 10 kayaks to rent, and I watched him rent out all of them every hour for a good three hours. That was nearly $1,000 in one day, for three hours worth of sitting on the beach and chatting with beach goers. Amazing.

Here’s to skilled artists and entrepreneurs. They’re an inspiration to follow our hearts and do what we love in life – and the money will likely follow.

Photo: Jug Jones