counselor waited with them, a pretty woman with short blond hair, blue eyes, and a tee that couldn’t hide her lovely figure.
“Hi,” the woman said. “I’m Sandy.” She held out her hand.
Ari shook hands. “I’m Ari Paget. Are you another Marshall?”
Sandy laughed. “There are a lot of them, aren’t there? No, my last name is Spendler. This is my second year, so if you have questions, feel free to ask.”
A young guy with spots and glasses stuck out his hand. “I’m Greg. I volunteer here sometimes. It’s like herding cats.”
Ari laughed and said hello.
Sandy took Ari’s arm. “So the first thing we do here is have morning circle.”
Cal was clapping his hands. “Sit down. Sit in a circle. That’s right. No, Nita, you can’t sit in the water. Come over right here.”
With a lot of squealing and pushing and complaining, fifteen children seated themselves in the sand in a loose circle. Sandy pulled Ari to sit down next to her across from Cal.
“Who has the feather today?” Cal asked.
“I do!” A boy around six waved his hands eagerly. His tee was stained and too small for him, but his smile reached to his ears.
“Okay, Gabriel, you start our day off with our morning prayer.”
In a high clear voice, Gabriel said, “Today I want to thank Tonatiuh, the Aztec god of the Sun. Because of him, we have food and…my mother told me, but I forgot the rest.”
“That was awesome, Gabriel!” Cal said. “Okay, camp, let’s all thank Tonatiuh, who is giving us this sunny day.”
Fifteen kids yelled their thanks so loudly that Ari was certain Tonatiuh, reclining up in the sun, had no choice but to hear.
Next, they went around the circle, everyone calling out their names. When they came to Ari, Sandy spoke up. “This is Ari, our new camp counselor! Everyone say hello to Ari!”
“Hello!” Ari called back.
“What do you like, Ari?” Sandy asked.
Ari was comfortable with this kind of interaction. She grinned and threw her arms out. “I like tacos and pizza! I like books about dogs. I like kids. And I like the ocean best!”
The kids hooted and applauded in agreement.
She smiled at seven boys and eight girls as they introduced themselves. The oldest child was a girl named Maria, the youngest, a boy named Casper. Ari tried to remember each child’s name, but she knew it would come with time.
After the morning circle, Sandy, Greg, and Cal organized the kids for several games: Traffic Cop, Simon Says, Capture the Flag. This would be an educational summer for her, Ari thought, watching fifteen children, some of whom didn’t understand the rules, and several of whom didn’t care about the rules but instead ran as hard as they could into another camper, shrieking and wrestling and screaming with laughter. Ari gently peeled the kids apart, helped make important decisions about who won, and consoled the youngest girl who kept coming to Ari to cry about a scratch on her arm. After the third time, Ari got it that this girl, Sheba, really wanted to sit in her lap.
When the children stopped caring about the rules of the game and threw themselves on the ground laughing and kicking, Cal blew his whistle lightly and told the children it was time to swim. They screamed with delight and splashed into the water.
Around noon, Cal announced it was time to go to the vans and to the school for lunch. Ari was amazed to see that it was after twelve. The counselors and kids raced toward the parking lot, where two well-used gray Honda Odysseys were parked next to each other. The words BEACH CAMP were painted in bright red six-inch-high letters. The kids had a free-for-all trying to get a seat next to their friends, and the noise level rose a few decibels, but finally they were all in with their seatbelts on.
“You ride up front with me, Ari,” Sandy said, and they were off.
At the community school, the children were guided into the bathrooms to use the facilities and wash their hands. Afterward, they gathered in the classroom at the end of a hallway. Cal and Sandy handed a yoga mat to each child, who dutifully spread the mat out and sat on it cross-legged. An anticipatory mood rolled through the air. Ari thought the children seemed to be holding their breath. From the refrigerator in the room, Cal and Sandy brought out brown paper bags and handed them out to the children.