Untouched Descriptions

You want a unique description for when you
object hasn't been touched yet. Once a 
player has touched your object this 
description will no longer be used, then
set_in_room_description() will be. For this 
put the following function in your objects 
create():

   set_untouched_desc("$N is half buried in the sand.")

$N is the objects id.  Please see the help on
the messages module for more on how that works.