"Is it sand or something worse."
I can think of far worse soils to work with other than sand, like 3 million year old oxidized red clay full of rocks.
Simply speaking the stuff that is floating is very fine grained silt and or dry clay.
A good loamy soil has about 40% to 50% sand.
Another thing to think about is where you live.
If you live in a subdivision dont think for a minute you can assume that the soil you have was the soil that was there before they built the houses.
Many times cheap so called fill dirt is hauled in to make grade and level everything out.
They do this plus scrape away any top soil.
What we end up with is garbage.
One thing I see on the forums is clay and sand make concrete, that couldn't be any farther from the truth.
Sand gravel and Portland cement make concrete.
If you take clay soils and mix in 40 to 50 percent sharp sand along with good compost you will have some of the best garden soil you ever saw.
What this does is it keeps the soil from becoming rock hard and cracking.
It also will keep it loose and it will retain moisture and will absorb moisture better.
Sand is not evil as so many people think.
Here is a link to a very good site that will show you how to test your soil to see what you have.
It may seem complicated at first but study it and you will know what you need to do.
Worth
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...gmdin-0aeTDr8A