Another One Bites the Dust

One more school in our community replaced and the "old" school almost completely torn down.  The latest was a middle school that was built with the last 30 years or so; it hadn't been built when I went to junior high.  For many years there were two junior high schools, which then became two middle schools, for the community.  Now there will be one location for the middle school classes.

I'm a bit sad over this.  Not because of any sentimental attachment to the school (only set foot in it for basketball games for my niece and friend's kids over the years), but because of the waste.  The school that was demolished was one of the newer buildings.  The older junior high/middle school remains, although being used in a different capacity.  When the new high school is complete and the move completed, the newest building of all of the school buildings will be among those demolished.  Sigh.  I don't get it.

I did stop by the demolition site today and took some pics . . . I won't bore you with all of them, but I will share some (you know I love construction and demolition!).

Foreground:  debris from demolition of old school.  Background:  new school.

I liked this shot for two reasons:  1) the big ol' honking piece of steel girder all mangled and curled; and 2) the way the debris pretty much framed the name of the school.

Yup, that would be some massive amounts of demolition debris!

I'm always amazed that any of the bricks stay together after watching how they do the demolition.

Quite a variety of items here:  cinder blocks, window frames, conduit of some kind, a desk, what looks like a huge bulletin board . . . what else do you see?

This was lying on the ground near the "Caution" tape.  I doubt many of us could find a use for a rubber lined fire hose that wouldn't get us into a whole lot of trouble!  But then again, it could be a whole lot of fun, anyway.

And what still remains, unscathed by the wrecking ball.  Still a lot of work to be done.

This sign was in front of the old school; don't know if it will stay, get moved, or be replaced, but I liked having it with the demolition equipment, the debris in the background, and then the new school in the far background.

This piece of equipment is HUGE (and I do believe those letters on the side spell out "Sledgehammer").  Wish I had some time to watch them do some of the clean up, but that won't be happening any time soon.

Several times over the next week, I'll have some new and interesting photographic opportunities.  If things turn out as nicely as I hope, I'll be sharing some of them with you.  Several have me very excited already, but I don't want to give away all of my secrets quite yet!

Blogger Block?

I think this must be a record of sorts for me - the longest I've not blogged . . . I really was missing it.  But we've either had extreme heat or thunderstorms, both of which will sometimes cause extreme headaches for me.  It's been a miserable week!

Tomorrow is going to be a fun but challenging day for me.  I am going to be shooting a wedding for one of the aides at Mom's assisted living facility.  I was honored when she asked me, but terrified of the responsibility and pressure I put on myself to do a good job.  Then, I had an absolutely fabulous idea to ask a young photographer to do the wedding with me.  And her name is Joy!  She has been through the local community college's photography program, and has worked with her uncle who is a professional photographer, so she brings the experience in posing and editing (about all I do for editing most days is cropping) that I sorely lack and was most concerned about.  Whew.

Yeah, the bride and groom are getting dirt cheap rates and will get great photos.  We'll get some great experience and a chance to see if this might become something we want to work together.

Tonight we went to the rehearsal, and I got a few pictures.  No, I'm not posting any of people - just  some of the decorations they'd already set up.  The wedding and reception are going to be in the same hall, which will be handy in some ways.

I was on my way back home after the rehearsal when I saw a GREAT opportunity for some more pics that I don't often get a chance at - construction equipment left unattended!!

I want to learn to run these kind of machines.  I also want to drive a Zamboni (I've ridden on one, and that was a blast!).

I must go on record about one of my pet peeves after working six years in Construction Management . . . you do not walk on a cement sidewalk (or swim in a cement pond).  Cement is an ingredient used to make concrete (for those practicing for SAT/ACT type tests, cement is to concrete as flour is to cake).  The finished product that is mixed and poured is concrete.  I've also been told by what I assume must be construction aficionados the even more correct term is concretus, and it is placed, not poured.  Getting off soapbox now . . .

Surely there's a hose around the construction site to clean out the scoop and tires on this machine (above and below).  I'd say they've both seen better days and easier treatment!

Rebar (above and below) . . . and I don't think they carried either group in the drink carrier above! It just kind of made me chuckle to see it there . . .

And of course, since I've been obsessing about clouds lately, I have to throw in some pics of them as well!  They were awfully pretty today.

And the final image that saddens me to see at my high school.  Really?  Police need a spot of their own to park in?  Just how often are they there?

I'm thinking there's no blogger block, even after almost a week off.  More like blogger diarrhea . . . ceremony, construction, clouds, and cops . . . working the alliteration angle!

No, I will not be posting wedding photos tomorrow unless they are artsy type photos - and Sunday I'll be working with the other Joy on selecting and editing photos from the wedding.  I hope to find time both days to get some pics taken.

Sweetest Day

I had a feeling it was going to be a great day when I started on my morning walk . . . well, after I turned around and got my cell phone that I'd left on the charger.  I'd decided to take my camera with me to get pics of the "new" elementary school that took the place of two schools I'd gone to.  I was looking all around me as I made the trek, and found a few interesting things to photograph!

We're just getting to the end of April, and here come the pine cones!  That just messes with my sensibilities somehow.

This reminded me of a miniature wreath . . . Christmas in APRIL????

A couple of Irises almost ready to bloom!  This is so strange to have the plants so far along already.

I thought this was a funny angle . . . perspective IS important.

This is the new school.  It combined two elementary schools that were back to back.  I went to 2nd and 3rd grade in one, then 4th-6th in the other.  With the fencing, and the cupola, I think it looks more like a prison than an elementary school!

I love construction equipment, and this particular piece had some interesting shapes to it!

I think there is something drastically wrong with the next three pictures.  It's getting close to the end of April, when most kids are more than ready to be playing outside, yet the playground at the school is off limits.  The old playground has been torn down, but the kids can't use this lovely equipment!  I can only assume it's a liability issue since no protective/cushioning cover has been put down around and under the equipment.  I think somebody messed up their planning BIG TIME.

I liked this tree stump . . . it has the weathered and aged, interesting character look to it.

 

This house is where I attended first grade.  Back in the day, there were so many elementary school age kids that we didn't have enough schools to house them all.  So, the builder of all of the homes in the community offered the school system the use of homes for kids to attend first grade for a rental rate of $1/year each.  The houses were modified slightly to be able to accommodate approximately 25-30 students.  Many of us walked home for lunch because the only other option was to bring our own - no cafeteria here!  It was a great experience since kindergarten was not required at that time.

I got a nice 2 mile walk, some interesting pictures, plus a trip down memory lane (remembered where several friends lived when we were in school as I walked by them, and then some of the fun stuff we did).  Then I got home to find the animals ready to entertain me!  The squirrel cracked me up with the way he was perched there on the end of a branch; he kept looking for something, but I never figured out what it was.

I don't know why, but I haven't noticed many robins the last few springs.  This isn't the first one I've seen this spring, but it's the first one I was able to get a shot of.  I did finally see a blue jay in the redbud tree, but I didn't have my camera with me.  :-(

Then, just as I was thinking about getting up and going inside, a minor miracle occurred.  A red bellied woodpecker flew onto the redbud tree, closely followed by a beautiful cardinal!  It's not clear as I'd like, but I managed to get a picture with BOTH of them in it.

The icing on the cake?  When visiting Mom today, it was a pretty darn good visit.  She was joking around and laughing.  It's so wonderful to have those kinds of visits.  More icing on the cake?  I spent the evening with friends, talking and laughing and having a great time.  It's definitely been my sweetest day so far this week (and maybe this month).