Great Art in a Heat Spell

Last week, we had a bit of beautiful weather--we're talking in the 80s here in D.C. I just wanted to get outside and walk and explore. Ran into some co-workers who gave me their extra strawberry-banana smoothie (yay!) and I was off. I walked past the National Geographic headquarters building, popped into a store, bought cool shell earrings from a West African vendor and used my Potbelly gift card for a sandwich. Ahhh, the life of a worker downtown, lol.

As I was nearing my job, I heard calls of "Portraits for 25 cents! Get a portrait done!" I couldn't resist. Students from the 2nd grade class at the SAIL charter school at the Washington Very Special Arts program were sitting on the stairs of their school, surrounded by pastels and clipboards with paper. One young businessman was already standing there posing with his suit and briefcase. He looked at me and smiled. I stopped and said, "I'd love one! Who's going to draw me?"

A young lady named Amber said "I will!" and proceeded to sketch me with her pencil, paying close attention to what I was wearing and my hair (which she declared as "really long", lol) and even got my sunglasses on my head. She was thrilled when I paid up and her friend Tanyia (pictured above) declared, "Well, I'd like to draw you too! Have a seat!" I was too tickled and plopped myself down. Her class was winding up behind us to go back in and she asked for more time to finish. Her teacher, Mr. Pierce, sat with us and enjoyed the day as Tanyia sketched and blended. I was really happy and gave her a dollar--you know, for the extra time and because it was for a good cause--they were raising money for the homeless. As we were sitting there, a man--who may have been homeless himself--came over and gave her a handful of change.

This experience really made my day.