I cannot imagine what we will become. I've listened recently to mothers and grandmothers discussing the start of school. It is that time. Laura would have been practicing marching band songs and routines already.
Now the talk is to return in some manner or distance learn. I heard a high schooler saying her younger sister was a happy computer nerd who could sit home and learn everything; she needed to raise her hand.
I read a long column over the weekend by a high school principal in an underfunded district and an even poorer school. He and his staff were the last link the students had to normalcy. They spent the summer scrabbling for Chromebooks and broadcasting equipment. His team of six high school teachers disinfected and set up classrooms, using shower curtains. Then one of them contracted Covid...and died.
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Fortunately no one asks me what I would do. I suppose like the high school student, it is all individual decisions.
In the meantime, Governor DeWine tests positive for corona virus.
The State Department lifts the "Do not Travel" advisory. I suppose a million people will book missed vacations. I travel more than anyone I know. My little "Sharp Brake" advisor and tattle tale installed under the dash shows in July I traveled extensively. Two trips for hearing aides and one for Francis' graduation.
I have taken pictures, mostly no further away than my steps and put there between paragraphs. Pig will have a zinnia soon.
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I have a new header. Every time I go by the pond at the golf course, I think I should stop for a picture. I also crane my neck for the heron. The one time I saw him I chased him half a dozen U-turns, trying to get a picture. He always was camera shy, but seems even more so, with no golfers about.
On the way home today, I put on my flashers and pulled over. And as I watched and drifted up the road, looking for a good view of the very derelict looking tree and rough course, there was the heron's head and neck above the weeds, on this side of the lake.
I was looking down at the phone to make adjustments when I heard a car coming down the road as fast as I have. Great grey wings and the heron was gone. I took the new header picture anyway. That golf course certainly is sad.
I had heard about DeWine since my younger daughter lives in Ohio. He's a mask wearer, isn't he? (not anti-mask like so many GOPers) Hope he'll be OK. That's a laugh about lifting the "do not travel" advisory. Where are we supposed to go that will let us in? We're even pariahs in some of our fellow states.
ReplyDeleteDeWine is a mask wearer. He's a decent R governor because he pushes back as long as he dares against the orange cheeto. Sadly, he's still an R.
ReplyDeleteThat course needs a good tidy...
ReplyDeleteI think that schools reopening is going to be a horror show.
ReplyDeleteI'm about to give up hope on this entire country.
If my kids were in school, there is no way I would allow them to attend in person classes. The school yard ten feet apart is the closest I'd allow them to be.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was amused by the State Department lifting the travel ban because EVERYBODY BUT US did a good job of pushing back on the virus. We're still plague dogs. If we get four more years of that orange man, things will be bad. I can't think about it. I hope Governor DeWine will be ok.
ReplyDeleteIt's all so different where I live.
ReplyDeleteI like your new header. Its a mess about school openings and virtual learning. I'm glad I don't have any kids in school anymore. I say skip learning this whole school year and bring the kids back next year and put them in the grade they would have been in this year. I don't see any other solution if they can't be in the classrooms learning. I've heard its a nightmare trying to do the virtual learning/teaching although schools here only started up just recently . And then there is the problem with what happens if Internet service goes down? Especially if its the teacher's Internet that goes down. What do the students do then? Just a mess.
ReplyDeletebetty
High school teachers working to clean and prepare classrooms only to have one of them die from the virus. So very tragic and sad. We have teachers in the family and they have our grandchildren so the school openings are a concern. I believe it would be safer for most places (some areas have low infection rates) to wait until October/November and see what is happening with the spread.
ReplyDeleteYour header may not have the heron in it, but it's still nicely composed.
ReplyDeletetragic for the teachers and the one that died just trying to do their best for the children. I think it is a no brainer to keep the kids at home, read John Holt and homeschool. Abe was home schooled...
ReplyDeleteYour header photo is a keeper. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThings are just getting worser and worser, it seems ...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I have no school-age children because I would be frantic with worry about them going back to school. And yet, as you say, in some cases schools provide more than an education to kids - they are a safe place, they may provide the only decent meal of the day, and it must be awful to be an educator trying to maintain that lifeline while trying also to ensure that returning to class doesn't kill their young students or themselves ...
Maybe I've just been reading too much news the past few days, but the whole world seems very depressing at the moment.
De Wine has now tested negative....He and his wife will be tested a third time, I think I heard...The school situation is a mess.
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful new header. Hey, I made the Bruschetta Spaghetti and LOVED it! That recipe is a real keeper! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLove your header.
ReplyDeleteAnd know not what we will become.
I can only keep on keeping on, in a way which allows me to live with myself.
Love the new header even without the heron. Maybe if you pulled off the road and parked there for a bit you could sneak a picture of him. I'm so glad my kids are grown and even my grandchildren are out of school. I don't think I could send a child to school in this mess. Our state is now one of the nine states that keep going up in case counts. Yet our governor will not set up a mask requirement. It's hard to not give up isn't it? Thank goodness we have an election coming.
ReplyDeleteMy family has a very old family crest. It shows a Heron with one leg sitting on a Fleur de Lis. Long before I was aware of the crest, I always loved Herons, and still do. I see one regularly in a nearby field. My absolute favourite bird.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing a heron in flight. As you know, I am likely going to be back in the classroom in a month. We still do not know all the details, however, our numbers here are quite low compared to big cities and some other countries. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteYour new header is so lush and green, just beautiful. I worry about kids missing school, but what else can be done? They need to stay home and be safe. They will be a year behind, but so will most of the rest of the country and things will improve over time. Probably a long, long time, which is despair-worthy, but we must just all wait.
ReplyDeleteWe are getting cases in my city now, from border-jumpers who should have stayed home.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteI remember that scene - but not like this...
As to the rest. Yes. All screaming for 'normal' and not realising normal is all about adjustment... YAM xx
Your golf course looks like our nature park, which used to be a golf course and country club that went bankrupt. It has a lake called "Tom Sawyer" which was really an ugly bog for ages before our community services district purchased the land and cleaned it up.
ReplyDeleteLink to photos of Tom Sawyer Lake: https://tinyurl.com/y64p8ws9
ReplyDeleteI suppose that as a golf course it looks sad, but returning to nature like that looks great to me. And think of all the water that will not go into keeping those fairways green, so that a small percentage of the people can indulge themselves. I bet that the parents and students of the underfunded school in a poor neighbourhood won't be shedding any tears for the golf course.
ReplyDeleteWe can imagine the heron. It's a nice view even without it.
ReplyDeleteOk here apart from the selfish unthinking pub crawlers.
Even eight Aberdeen footballers went out for a jolly, thereby endangering their next three game fixtures. Most people are ok with masks here even the mega grumblers
Your new header is really nice, I love the pond with the cat tails and the pretty tree right beside it. It doesn't quite look like a weeping willow, but it does have interesting limbs and leaves.
ReplyDeleteI am very concerned about my grandson going back to school. I think that kids going back to school will spread the virus more than the politicians expect, or be willing to take any responsibility for their insistence that it will be safe because "children are immune to the virus" (not).
I like your new header photo. I would never have guessed it was a golf course though.
ReplyDeleteI came across a back to school article from Georgia last night -- very crowded hallways with about a 10% masking rate. Two students were suspended for showing photos online. It will be very different with masks everywhere here when school starts up in September, but I still worry.
ReplyDeleteI guess we're in for a generation of incompletely educated children. I don't know whether it will make any difference.
ReplyDeleteEven though you did not get a shot of the heron, the picture is lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt was good to read that DeWine had a false positive but upsetting to know that these quick tests are not always accurate.
Our schools are going online only until at least January--so the first two quarters. They are going to split even the online classes into two pods (am/pm) so only half of class/students are on at one time. The second half of each day will be independent study--completing extra assignments found on school apps. No classes on Wednesday. This is an improvement over the initial plan which would have meant 8 hours a day/5 days a week online--totally unrealistic--especially for younger children--and for parents. Thankfully they listened to the parents. If my DD's daycare provider is unable to work out a suitable arrangement for the school-age children in her care (who normally are just in before/after care), then I will be supervising my 6 year old grandson's school time for the foreseeable future, as both his parents are working. No matter what the plan, it is a rock and a hard place for all concerned.
ReplyDeleteBig controversy in the UK over reopening schools. Some saying kids' continuing classroom education is a priority, others saying it isn't safe and schools should stay closed. All Northern Ireland schools will be fully reopened on August 31.
ReplyDeleteTragic that a teacher died of covid while the school was making anti-covid preparations.
I like your new header also, Joanne. As for the school situation, our grand daughter (7 year old one) will remain home and do online classes. As for our oldest grand daughter who is 18 and starting college this month, she will be in a dorm and will be doing a combination of physical and online classes. She has a good collection of masks from me... but I will still worry.
ReplyDeleteI do like that new header.
ReplyDeleteBut the tree is still green. I like all the browning grasses too. makes it all seem more real.
ReplyDeleteIf my children were still of school age they would not be going back to school. I understand all the arguments for sending them back to school. Many of them have merit. My child's life is more important than any of them.
ReplyDeleteDear Joanne, recently, discovering that in the post office in the large grocery store nearby they are not getting any supplies and boxes and letters are not being picked up, I put on my Paul Revere hat and called people to let them know. That evening also, PBS Newshour did a lengthy interview with the postal carriers union leader. We live in perilous times and I find myself having firm opinions about a few things and not-so-firm, in fact rather jelly like, about many others. There is so much happening that my mind is refusing to think. Peace.
ReplyDeleteDee, I have wondered about this. Figured it must be that so many people are using the mail and delivery service that the post office, etc. can't keep up. I sent my daughter a small manila envelope with some masks inside and it took 3 weeks for her to receive it...??
Deletethe golf course looks better as a field than it did a golf course. I thought more wildlife would have moved in by now.
ReplyDeleteTrump is a selfish moron with a very small attention span. I fear it will take Biden all four years of his first term to put this nation back on its feet before he can even begin to address all Trump's executive orders.
There's a lovely balance in your header of the greens and blues, very eye pleasing. Who knows where the educational systems are going? I am just hoping the students don't die in a failed experiment.
ReplyDeleteUncertain times. No predictability and we all hate that.
XO
WWW
What a shame you missed the Heron but I have the feeling eventually you'll snap that bird in all his glory! My partner is playing golf again.
ReplyDeleteIt must be weird living in a place where nobody sensible is in charge. that's what it sounds like from your post. Here in the UK it is not much better, we have a group of ideological incompetents in charge whose main priority seems to be in benefiting themselves and their friends at the public's expense. I sure never thought Britain would come to this.
ReplyDelete