I swung around to face Rick and threw my hands up. “Watching the sunrise together? Really?”
He shrugged. “Well sure, I mean you weren’t going to tell her about the UFOs, were you?” He said raising his eyebrows at me and giving me a half smile, turning in the direction Sarah had disappeared into.
I shook my head and started walking back to get dressed for work.
CHAPTER 12
The campers were still at breakfast when I got in later that morning. I walked through the double doors into the relatively small cafeteria. It looked as though a portion of the gym had been detached and transformed into a food hall. The floors were wooden planked. The large, wooden, square tables could fit up to sixteen kids on their attached benches. There were only four of those tables in the entire cafeteria.
I gathered my first group, and we headed to the art room.
I had a different plan for this class. Since they were one of my older groups, I decided to take them down to the docks to sketch the ocean, skies, and the sandy beach, and some of them might even enjoy the boats and yachts parked on that side of the shore. They were really excited about this one. It was a much more beautiful morning, and I planned on taking advantage.
I had spotted this location a few days ago. I did my research on the map, and, seeing it was in town, I brought it up to Sarah. She liked the idea of taking the older group to paint boats along the ocean. Everyone loves drawing boats. She didn’t fail to remind me, however, that I needed to plan my ventures for the whole summer and couldn’t keep coming up with new ideas on a random basis.
“I love that you’re creative, Amy, but you need to come up with a plan in advance so I can put it on the summer schedule,” she admonished.
Sure, it was fine when she rearranged the schedule to prep for a highly awaited holiday show, but when I suggested something, it was considered a “lack of a carefully thought out plan.”
We walked along the boardwalk about half a mile past the beach club campgrounds. It seemed to be a busy morning. I spotted Rachel and Peter walking toward the pool to prep for their first session. The boats seemed to have more activity on them than they’d had in the last few days. I even heard another group of kids shouting nearby.
I turned toward the direction of the sound and spotted a group of boys and a few girls sitting along the docks in a single row with their legs hanging off the edge. I recognized them to be our campers. Rick was standing behind them, giving instructions. I looked at my own group and the space we’d ended up using. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go any farther since that would have been the end of the map for the town. The boats, however, were in very good viewing distance.
“Okay, let’s get settled here. Please do not go within fifteen feet of the water. You are here only as artists to observe your surroundings. Find a spot that directly shows a nature effect, and focus on it.”
My group quickly got settled into their own comfortable setting. They all positioned themselves on their focal point. They were becoming pros at finding their points as soon as they arrived at a location.
Rick watched my group as they got settled in, surrounding themselves with their sketch pads and pencils. I was impressed at how his instructions hadn’t seemed to slow in speed since the distraction presented itself. He really was good at his job. Now that I’d gotten closer, I could hear Rick’s directions, and they sounded a lot like a game of volleyball with no net.
He blew a whistle and the kids all jumped in the water. He tossed a lime-green-and-white-striped ball at them as they arrayed themselves in a circle. Rick remained on the docks and quickly demonstrated serving. He blew his whistle again and tossed the ball a few feet in the air, letting it fall right in the middle. Once the game started and was running smoothly, he walked off the docks toward the beach.
He caught my eye and flashed me a half smile. “Hey.”
“Thought you were kayaking today,” I said with my eyes half squinting.
“Peeking at my schedule?” He winked. Then he looked over at his group playing the ball sport. “Actually, I need to get these kids using more muscles than their upper bodies. With their legs in the water, that should do it.”
I nodded, admiring how great his kids were playing together.
“Dillon, please no inching toward the water. You’ll get your turn to play after lunch,” I called.
Rick smiled and winked at Dillon. “I’ll see you guys later.” He ran back to his class.
Since today’s class was on the beach, my kids brought beach towels to sit on while they painted and sketched. I suggested it in case they didn’t want to get sand on their project or supplies.
“What if I do want sand on my project, Amy?”
“Then you’ll want to use glue to get it to stick and then hair spray to make it stay,” I replied, appreciating Kevin’s messy, artistic ways.
About forty minutes later, I circled the group as they were putting the finishing touches on their art. They knew this to be my reminder that time was almost up.
“I can’t get it right,” Kimmy called out, frustrated.
I walked over to see what she was working on. The sand, the water and the sky had been painted with beautiful watercolors. The boat was simpler than any of the ones out. But nonetheless, she basically had simplified her vision. The base of her single boat just off the shore was white with gray streaks. The rails were a darker shade of gray. Now she had her windows outlined, but they seemed incomplete somehow. I examined at the actual boats’ windows.
“This looks great, Kim,” I encouraged first. “Don’t you want to color in the windows?”
She looked up at me tentatively. “What color?”
