My senior class took a trip to our local art museum. It was a very old building with a very creaky floor. When I went upstairs I was more worried about falling through the floor than looking at the art. Then I saw a painting on a wall opposite me. Something about it stuck out to me. I continued walking around, but there was something about that one that felt familiar. The painting was called “Sunset at Waimea Bay,”  painted by Lex Thompson.

The painting of Waimea Bay makes me wish I was there. I want to walk in the sand along the bay and feel the afternoon breeze in my hair. This was once someone's special place, now it is deserted with only a few clues as to what it once was.

In the front left of this picture there is a grill. The top of the grill is open, and on it I can see a semi crumpled piece of paper. The grill has not been used recently, but the paper shows it once was. In the front right of the picture I can see a tree. The tree has three main branches. The left branch reaches out to the bay, while the others stand tall. It’s as if I can hear the leaves rustle as the breeze blows through them. I see dead grass behind the tree and grill, and the ground is the color of rust.

Beyond the tree I can see the bay. The rolling of the waves on the ocean crashes. I picture myself walking along the beach. The sand by the bay where the water recently left looks like the sky before it rains. The wet sand is visible since it's a low tide. As I walk across the sand I can feel it squish between my toes as if walking in mashed potatoes. Beyond the gray sand a piece of land sticks out into the ocean. Along this, nearest me is a strip of snow white sand. Beyond this is a row of trees. As I look up I see a beautiful blue sky with a few cotton ball clouds. It is a nice day for a walk along the bay. I feel as though I am the person who once spent many hours here. I also think about how peaceful this area is while everyone else is busy at work. It makes me feel very calm and relaxed.

While looking at this painting I wish I could be on the beach next to the bay. It’s peaceful and beautiful. This painting reminds me a little of the beaches I grew up around. It reminds me of waking up to beautiful sunrises on the lake. I would play in the sand and splash around in the water. There were no worries in my head, only the joy of spending warm summer days by the lake.    

My family would go to the lake with a couple other families and we would camp for about five days. It has been a few years since the last time I went to the lake with my family. I can still remember all the days I spent with the other kids. We would go swimming, fishing, tubing, and many other things. We spent so much time in the water, our skin turned bright red from all the sun we had gotten. Looking at the beach in the picture brings me back to the summers I spent with my family when I was younger.