Back to School – NOT! #Wordless Wednesday #No in-seat learning here! #Street photography

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Linda Schaub

Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.

About Linda Schaub

This is my first blog and I enjoy writing each post immensely. I started a walking regimen in 2011 and in 2013 I decided to create a blog as a means of memorializing the people, places and things seen on my daily walks. I have always enjoyed people watching, so my blog is peppered with folks I meet or reflections of characters I have known through the years. Often something piques my interest, or evokes a pleasant memory from my memory bank, so this becomes a “slice o’ life” blog post. I respect and appreciate nature and my interactions with Mother Nature’s gifts is also a common theme. Sometimes the most-ordinary items become fodder for points to ponder over and touch upon. I retired in March 2024 after a career in the legal field. I was a legal secretary for almost 45 years, primarily working in downtown Detroit, then working from my home. I graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in Mass Communications (print journalism) in 1978, though I’ve never worked in that field. I would like to think this blog is the writer in me finally emerging!! Walking and writing have met, shaken hands and the creative juices are flowing in Walkin’, Writin’, Wit & Whimsy. I hope you think so too. - Linda Schaub
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43 Responses to Back to School – NOT! #Wordless Wednesday #No in-seat learning here! #Street photography

  1. Laurie says:
    September 9, 2020 at 7:40 am

    Hmmm…the sign makes me wonder – what is a “Public Schools SINKING Fund”?

    Liked by 3 people

    • Linda Schaub says:
      September 9, 2020 at 8:01 pm

      Laurie – I had never heard of that phrase either and because I can’t vote in any elections, even local, as I’m not a U.S. citizen, I never pay attention to millage renewals, taxes for schools, etc. I took the picture because I thought the “Congratulations Class of 2020” and a pile of rubble and “Sinking Fund” seemed at odds with each other. I did Google when I saw the photos and the sign was on the screen – this is what I learned: “Sinking funds permit schools to save taxpayer dollars over alternative forms of bonding and borrowing without increase of taxes.”

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Anne Mehrling says:
    September 9, 2020 at 1:08 pm

    Very interesting photos!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Linda Schaub says:
      September 9, 2020 at 8:22 pm

      Thanks Anne – I was struck by the fact that most of the school had been demolished, yet the “Congratulations Class of 2020” remained standing and that mural in the background as well. Interesting-looking worksite – it was a weekend so I could get close to it. This is the third big school to be demolished in Lincoln Park. One was my junior high school which had been there many decades – there was quite the crowd watching that old school fall and it made the newspaper. The other school was a block away from the diner where I worked while in school. They demolished it one Summer I was working and built an A&P in its place. I never went to that school, but people came into the diner after watching the bulldozers knock it down. Before the bulldozers people raced to grab desks, bricks and came in with tears streaming down their faces.

      Like

      • Anne Mehrling says:
        September 9, 2020 at 8:54 pm

        The schools I went to have been demolished, too. My parents had gone to school in the same buildings, so I’m sure they were way past modern standards.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 9, 2020 at 9:21 pm

        Yes, they tore down my junior high and when it was rebuilt, they called it “middle school” which is a term we never had when I attended Huff. In Detroit and some of the suburban schools, we have had really warm weather and the principals decided after Labor Day and the commencement of school, that students and teachers would use huge tents to learn outside. So how did that work out? Monday we had almost two inches of rain, and then we have had 60 degrees with gray and gloomy skies, so they put the kids back in the classrooms.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Joni says:
        September 9, 2020 at 10:03 pm

        That’s the first I heard of tents – although they have planned some classes for outdoors exploring science etc. I’m not sure I could learn in a tent!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 9, 2020 at 10:31 pm

        Well Joni, I could see the outdoors exploring for science, but was surprised about the tents for regular classrooms. I heard about it on my all-news radio station so I looked yesterday as I wondered how big the tents were. The weather is not conducive for tents now – maybe last week – it was cold today and rainy yesterday! Here is how they are doing the tents:
        https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/articles/news/detroit-area-school-brings-students-back-for-class-in-tents

        Liked by 1 person

      • Joni says:
        September 10, 2020 at 12:31 pm

        Interesting, but must be expensive to rent or buy. A smallish tent here cost $300 at Lowe’s – the eye glass place had one in the summer and I asked where he bought it as it was a nice tent. Plus you’d have to move the furniture in. I see they are wi-fi enabled. I fear tent days are over – it already seems like a cool fall in store.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 10, 2020 at 6:18 pm

        I think Summer has departed (like Elvis who left the building). It was gray and gloomy and a bit of rain once again. At least just a mist, not torrential like the other day. I am thinking they would have heated tents, but is that safe? Space heaters are never safe, but maybe that is me just being overly cautious about everything. What if it catches on fire with the kids in it? I know we have some beautiful Fall days, but I don’t think it would be a workable option. Our gyms opened up yesterday, some pools but no bowling alleys … or movie theatres. So some of the gyms moved their equipment in parking lots during the warmer weather – they took up big areas of their parking lot and used it to take exercise equipment out – there were treadmills, bikes, eliptical machines – I can’t image they lugged them in every night – maybe they had a guard because some of the gyms are open 24/7. When they were allowed to open at midnight Wednesday, people were already lined up to get in.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Joni says:
        September 10, 2020 at 9:42 pm

        That’s crazy. A gym is the last place I’d want to be. Does that mean your Covid cases have decreased in Michigan? I see the orange guy is having a rally there today. We didn’t have rain but gray cloudy skies and cool, haven’t seen the sun for a week now.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 11, 2020 at 8:48 pm

        I agree with you Joni – you could not pay me to go to a gym, nor to the many gyms that moved their equipment outdoors. Not safe in my opinion. No, our cases have actually gone up, deaths too – I think we had 7 or 9 deaths reported today and 1,300 cases. We have had 110,000 COVID cases in Michigan, but 80,000 have survived. I just heard that stat a short time ago. Our Governor had a press conference yesterday – she was concerned as Trump was having a rally in Saginaw (about 100 miles from where I live) and his MAGA supporters were intending to not mask up … she was concerned it would be a super spreader event, which it probably will be as the pictures I saw the people were shoulder to shoulder and not everyone wore masks. The Governor stated that if the cases continue to spike, we were be going in reverse and restrictions will be imposed. She opened the gyms as the gym owners were threatening to sue – she already has multiple suits against her for exceeding her executive powers. The bowling alleys and movie theatres remain closed and the theatre owners are livid against her. Finally the sun came out late in the day today but it was not warm – I put the heat on as it was just too cold in the house but I have it set at 72 and I’m not really warm now.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Joni says:
        September 11, 2020 at 9:51 pm

        Ontario has had 43,800 cases and 2800 deaths, 80% in nursing homes. All of Canada has had 135,600 cases and 9100 deaths, as Ont and Quebec have been the worst hit provinces due to population. The number of cases per day in Ontario was down to about 100/day, mostly Toronto area, but is creeping back up to about 200/day with school starting. We only have 2 active cases locally now and have not had a death since June. It was chilly today, I walked but with a heavy fleece hoodie on, but so far have resisted putting the furnace on.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 11, 2020 at 10:45 pm

        The U.S. stats are abysmal and our Michigan stats are likely to spike now that school is back in session – hopefully not from the rally yesterday. Look at Ontario’s cases – a huge province, and 43,800 cases and we are one state, with 110,000 cases. Terrible. It is 9 degrees below normal. I am cold with the furnace on but it came on one time and that was it … it apparently has stayed at 72 all day – I’m not shutting it off before bed. I also was in a heavy fleece hoodie. Looks like you’ll get to wear all your heavy coats this Winter – all the predictions for a La Nina Winter (lots of cold air and precip) are pointed in that direction. Ugh. I was hoping for a repeat of last year’s nice Winter.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Joni says:
        September 12, 2020 at 10:51 am

        True….I read today that our daily Canadian cases are inching up to 600/day, up from 400/day, but even adjusting for the 10% of US population difference we are way ahead. But then Canadians tend to be cooperative – you don’t see many opposition rallies re masks and such. The Farmers Almanac said Canada was in for a “snow train” winter – one storm after the other. Not looking forward to it, new coats or not…..

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 12, 2020 at 9:04 pm

        Yes, Canadians are not rebelling like here – I don’t know why people rebel – why, you are only hurting yourself by taking chances and not masking up? I heard Dr. Fauci say that irregardless of the vaccine’s availability in early 2021, not to count on normalcy until the end of 2021 and normalcy might even be 2022. I’ve never heard of the “snow train” Winter description but sounds like it is a descriptive way to say it is going to be awful this Winter. I’m not a Winter fan, just like you. I read an article tonight about what La Nina entails for the whole U.S. – doesn’t sound great for anywhere.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Anne Mehrling says:
        September 9, 2020 at 10:50 pm

        It was a good idea! Too bad it didn’t work out well.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 10, 2020 at 6:25 pm

        I thought I sent a comment, but here it was “hanging in here” – hmm. Given the fact that Summer seems to have departed abruptly, I am thinking they’d need to use heaters in their tents – maybe not safe due to fire. I personally think they should have left everyone online … kids, college-age, teachers – everyone. We’ve already had outbreaks in Michigan for the school that have returned just before Labor Day. There is lots in the news these days, that’s for sure.

        Like

      • Anne Mehrling says:
        September 10, 2020 at 7:43 pm

        I’m glad I don’t have to make decisions about who can go where. It will be so good when this is over.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 10, 2020 at 9:11 pm

        Yes it will – it cannot come soon enough.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. indianeskitchen says:
    September 9, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    Same thing is happening where I live too Linda, so many small schools torn down. Then they build one new large one in place of like three small schools.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Linda Schaub says:
      September 9, 2020 at 9:34 pm

      I wonder if there aren’t as many kids as there were back when they were built and now they are equipped for internet too? When I graduated from high school, we had 613 in our graduating class (June) and there had been around 160 students in the January class that year. They combine them now – don’t know how many students, but I know we were one of the largest graduating classes.

      My dentist moved to a new location about 10 years ago – he’d been in a small office for many years, but he wanted to go all digital and the building was small but built very solid and when he had the internet service provider in, he said that it was not a good idea to go all digital as the signals would not be good. He bought an old bar and gutted it and had a new office built – all digital recordkeeping.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. AnnMarie R stevens says:
    September 9, 2020 at 10:07 pm

    Miss Linda…………………………………….I’m sure glad I voted for the schools!………………………by chance was that your old school?

    Liked by 2 people

    • Linda Schaub says:
      September 9, 2020 at 10:27 pm

      I didn’t know what that vote was for Ann Marie – I had to Google it and then a fellow blogger who was a high school chemistry teacher for years asked me what the Sinking Fund was. You would have known as a former teacher. No, that was Hoover School which is across from Good Shepherd Catholic Church between Riverbank and Emmons. I went to Huff Junior High which they tore down and built the middle school there in its place.

      Like

  5. Prior... says:
    September 10, 2020 at 12:15 am

    Nice captures – I read some of the comments and have a little background info – but also love the juxtaposition of the rubble and signs

    Liked by 2 people

    • Linda Schaub says:
      September 10, 2020 at 7:36 am

      You know … this is the post I was thinking of that I first used the tag “Street Photography” and mentioned it to you last week … I am going to return to the “Cones and Coneflowers” post and tag it as such too. Thank you Yvette – I thought it was a unique scene as to the juxtaposition too … one one hand, leaving the sign up that says “Congratulations Class of 2020” while the students’ school is in rubble next to and beneath the sign and the “Sinking Fund” sign – it made me think “what is wrong with this picture?” And that bright and colorful mural in the background. I don’t know but the whole scene seemed a little surreal to me.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog says:
    September 11, 2020 at 7:20 pm

    “School is out forever… school is blown to pieces…”

    Liked by 2 people

    • Linda Schaub says:
      September 11, 2020 at 10:42 pm

      Loved that video Tom! I knew all the words for goodness sake and haven’t heard the song in a long time. Homegrown boy Alice Cooper made good. He played local gigs, as did Bob Seger, another homegrown favorite, at a local Catholic high school back in the early 70s. I recognized the line before watching the video on YouTube. I loved that song back in the day and I’ve never seen any of his videos before. I’ve only seen pictures of Alice Cooper. The whole persona … wow.
      I saw a photo of him not long ago – looks the same, just no eye makeup. Aging gracefully?? 🙂

      Like

  8. Tofino Photography says:
    September 12, 2020 at 11:26 pm

    what do they mean “Sinking Fund” Linda?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      September 13, 2020 at 8:54 pm

      (BTW – this pile of rubble, once Hoover Elementary School, was right across from the church where I took the 9/11 pics.) I took picture of that “Sinking Fund” sign as I also was curious and because “sinking” and that pile of rubble seemed to go hand in hand. I Googled the phrase when I got home and this is what I learned: “Sinking funds permit schools to save taxpayer dollars over alternative forms of bonding and borrowing without increase of taxes.” Since I am not a U.S. citizen, so can’t vote in any elections, I am not “up” on school millage, tax issues, but that’s what it is and apparently is a good thing for taxpayers.

      Like

      • Tofino Photography says:
        September 13, 2020 at 10:38 pm

        I wonder how that works?

        Like

      • Linda Schaub says:
        September 13, 2020 at 10:54 pm

        I am not sure – since I can’t vote and don’t have anything to do with the school system, the only thing I do for schools is walk in the annual 5K walk/run for Lincoln Park education – I didn’t walk this year due to COVID as the event was cancelled. I will tell you that when I was in high school, the millage did not pass and there were money issues for the high school for two years. For 10th grade and 11th grade, we went to school just four hours a day, in the morning. We had no activities like music, art, drama, sports, just school and no college prep classes, just English, Math, History and Science. Our high school lost its accreditation. For our senior year, everything came back, but driver’s training. We no longer had free driver’s training at school, but our parents had to pay for it.

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  9. J P says:
    September 15, 2020 at 6:00 am

    This was what I wished happened to my own school every fall when I had to go back, but no such luck. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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