When HTG was a kid, there was not much that I liked more than building a snow fort. One that was too small for grown-ups to even think about entering.
Okay, I wasn’t going to live there long term, but the little bit of solitude was a delicious respite from the world. It wasn’t complete solitude, because I sometimes allowed my brother to enter, but only as a subcontractor. If he wasn’t helping me add rooms to my fortress, he knew that he was OUT.
I didn’t realize then that forts were even cooler when they’re located in clear sunshine, next to a nice reflective body of water. And preferably a beach.