...picking up where we left off...
Thursday morning looked like this. A lot more clouds blocking that sunrise but they created a dreamlike landscape for running.
The usual slogsquad was out at 6am for a run.
Those balcony breakfasts were really sweet all week long. I brought my fancy coffee maker with me and only got mocked a little for that. But I forgot my giant mug so Singletary made an emergency trip to the Dollar Tree on the first morning to find a mug to get me through the week. The handle was cracked but it made it all the way home in one piece.
The Thursday sand sculpture studio was a different location. After breakfast we loaded up and drove a couple of miles north to Huntington Beach State Park for the day. The beaches there are wide open and usually not very populated. It's a great place to spread out and work with various found objects gathered from along the beach. As the students got started, I headed up the beach in search of beach treasures and a little bit of solitude. I came across this decorated tree not far from our sculpture spot.
The decorations got started a couple of years ago and now people come by throughout the year and add to it.
It's a perfect fit for what we were doing all week, taking natural things around us and making people smile with how we organized them.
Found this vicious looking fish washed up. Those nasty looking fangs will make you never want to go in the water again.
Also found this jellyfish's final resting place.
The walk started out as me checking on sculptors working up the beach and turned into a little escape. I picked up Sabrina as I was exploring and since we were already so far out, we decided to continue on to the northernmost boundary of the park, the rock jetty at the mouth of Murrell's Inlet.
Sabrina was not prepared for the adventure. The rock jetty has an asphalt walkway in the center but it's really tough on the feet. We had already walked about 1.5 miles just to get to it and now it was a long walk out to the end of the jetty. For the record, I offered her my sandals.
As we neared the end, the skies darkened and the wind and waves picked up. It's hard to tell from the photos but the waves were really large. They'd build up to an impressive height and then they'd crash along both sides of the jetty. It was pretty intense.
That was about the time Sabrina told me she couldn't swim. I was not excited about jumping in to save anyone and getting dashed against the rocks so we rolled out and headed back.
Reunited with the class, I was happy to find people hard at work, even with the occasional rain shower passing by. This collection of shells gathered and sorted by Emily made me really happy. It demonstrated a thoughtful processing of the artist research done before the trip.
The ocean breeze is usually a nice cooling breeze on a sunny day. But when it's about 70 degrees and raining, that breeze can feel downright cold. Mary Catherine and Jocelyn took refuge against the dunes during a downpour.
But my people stayed busy and used the rain to their advantage. Abby ignored the rain and kept working.
Katherine was smart enough to bring rain gear.
BOLT! was cold all day but she kept working, creating giant thumbs stretching a long way up the beach.
Around lunch time a really strong downpour came up and pelted us with rain. We took it as long as we could before heading to the parking lot and taking a lunch break under the picnic shelter.
Even a stormy, rainy beach is captivating.
Between downpours Jocelyn finished her tidal pool sculpture lined with leaves and rocks. It got more interesting when the water drained out and the wind blew sand into the space.
Katherine finished her big octopus.
And Jarecki made a really big pineapple.
The rain stopped for a bit and we loaded up and headed over to Atalaya Castle on the other end of the park. This was the seasonal home of Anna Hyatt Huntington and her husband Archer Huntington in the mid 1900s. It was built during the Great Depression and it contains a huge sculpture studio where Anna worked and had stables and holding areas for wildlife so she could work from live models.
It's a beautiful place and a great little piece of South Carolina's art history.
By this point in the week we were nailing the group photos. We look like a happy family.
Friday's slog was a little wet. The phone case was covered in rain so we got a blurry slog pic. Jarecki joined the regulars again.
Friday was the last individual project day and several people had some things to prove. The week had been frustrating to a few students in terms of their projects. They kept running out of time and things kept falling. Friday was the day to show what they had learned.
Armir was out at about 7:30 to start a huge project.
Grace could barely be seen behind her sculpture.
BOLT! went bigger too and took over a whole section of the beach.
Katherine made a large banana themed sculpture
Seth got back to building and made a big furry creature.
Abby made a very cool cactus with lots of texture.
I couldn't get a good photo of it but Armir made the Family Guy dude.
And the big mound of sand Grace was hiding behind turned into a big elephant.
Emily went Egyptian and made a pyramid.
Singletary made a giant cupcake.
Hannah made a cool abstracted butterfly.
Jarecki wrestled with this guy all day and finally got him to stay together. He's a stegosaurus.
Kelsey worked with this one through some changes and ended up with a creature with a little bit of whipped cream and a cherry on top.
The fun activity for the day was the Broadway Grand Prix. The rain held off in the afternoon long enough for us to grab a quick bite at Chick-fil-A and make it to the race cars. The look on Singletary's face in that photo sums up the night.
The go-carts were so much fun.
We all got to race each other and it was a great way to let go and have some fun.
After hitting all the good tracks, a downpour blew through and we thought our night of racing was over. We headed inside for some fun in the arcade.
Blue loves to play Terminator but he and I never get very far. This was an opportunity to play with Armir who has a little experience with an automatic weapon. We did pretty good together.
I did not fair so well in air hockey against Emily. She's a shark.
We were just about ready to leave when we realized the track were open again. We all headed back out for more laps.
Jessica had a boot on her foot all week but Jarecki wanted to make sure she got to enjoy some go-carting. They got a "family car" and the track dudes let them do some laps by themselves.
We all drove pretty aggressively. There was absolutely no bumping but there was also a lot of bumping. We got whistled at a few times by the track dudes, but they seemed happy to let us fight it out. It was such a great night. We all had a blast.
Saturday morning it was a little wet and we were back with the slogsquad. We ran down to the point again and with just a little difference in the tide, there was a lot more beach to explore down there.
We didn't even mind stopping at the halfway point to explore and look for beach treasures. The landscape was really fun to see.
And treasures we found. This guy was barely exposed in the sand. I dug it out and it just kept coming. It's the largest shell I've ever found. The other side had a few holes in it and it was vacant, I promise.
These two are amazing. They came out every day to slog, no matter how tired they were and no matter what the weather was. By the end of the week they logged more than 22 miles of beach running. I'm so impressed.
While the rain flirted with us for several days, Saturday it moved in to stay. There was a 100% chance all day and the forecast did not disappoint. It rained all day, the wind blew and it was cold and uncomfortable ally day long.
Saturday was our group project which turned out to be a Sand Sculpture Deathmatch. I divided the students up into two teams and they set out to create the best sculpture in 6 hours.
They wore trash bags and ponchos. Some had sweatshirts. All were soaked to the bone.
The good part was that if you stayed busy, you were not quite so uncomfortably cold.
Grace was not amused by the weather. I wasn't very amused either. I had a pile of sketchbooks to grade and comment on along with a few other tasks so between work sessions, I ventured out to see how everyone was doing. Each time I got soaked.
Singletary got pizzas for lunch and then everyone got right back at it. Both teams finished on time and both did well. Captain Armir's team made a monkey coming out of a barrel with bananas scattered across the beach.
They were excited to be finished and to get out of the rain.
Captain BOLT!'s team ended up with a whole beach of a giant squid.
I had to get up high to get a photo and even then I couldn't get it all.
But it was such an impressive scale. They too were glad to be finished.
With the sculptures finished most everyone wanted a hot shower. But not these people. We had worked so much through the week, only a couple of people had a chance to surf. Since this was our last day on the beach, these four wanted to give it a shot. So as wet and cold as we all were, we got the surfboard and we got into the ocean.
Katherine was first and she did really well. She got up at least twice.
BHP took some turns a couple of days earlier but couldn't keep his balance. He wanted another shot.
He gave it a few good tries before handing it over to Jarecki.
Jarecki caught a few waves but none of them were good enough to stand up on.
In this photo we are realizing just how ridiculous we are. Standing in the ocean in our clothes, my teeth were chattering but we couldn't stop smiling. Seconds after this photo we came to our senses and ran inside to warm up.
After those hot showers and some dry clothes, we were off to find food at Russell's. Russell's is the best seafood in Murrell's Inlet and probably G's favorite restaurant in the world. She didn't get to come down for the trip this year so don't tell her we ate at Russell's. We've been coming to this place for about 15 years and Russell, the hostess and one of the waiters always recognize us. I told them all to forget they saw me and to be sure and not mention it when we came back for vacation. They assured me my secret was safe.
We made a quick stop for some secrets and arrived back at the hotel just in time for this sunset.
And on the other side of the hotel there was this tiny chunk of rainbow over the ocean.
Another of our Sand Sculpture traditions is going to The Spirit Room on the last night for a little gathering. This year we were announcing the Deathmatch winners and celebrating with a cake. The students were bummed that we elected to award both teams as winners because each team created something so different from the other in terms of the criteria. Both were amazing for different reasons and we couldn't fairly compare apples to oranges. I understand their frustration with this decision but I stand by our choice. And this way everyone got cake!
Spending an intense week together like this creates a lot of funny/embarrassing/memorable experiences. On that last night in The Spirit Room we give out awards to the students. Think of it as senior superlatives with a twist. It ends up being a bit like a roast at times. Some get straightforward awards for being good people but most get some sort of funny or joke award and we all have a good laugh. I would love to share these awards with you, but what happens in The Spirit Room stays in The Spirit Room. If you want to experience it, you'll just have to come next year. That's BHP in the photo. That's all I'm allowed to say.
Stay tuned for part three soon.....
No comments:
Post a Comment