The year was 1974. We had lived in our new house in St. Paul for a year and it was finally summer vacation. The past school year had been difficult. Starting a new school in the eighth grade was not fun especially when I didn’t want to move. One good thing from the school year was I finally had a new friend and her family invited me to go with them on a camping trip for a week. My parents agreed to let me go.
My friend invited me to go and her older brother invited his friend to go. We slept in one tent and her brother and friend slept another tent and their parents in a small camper. It was one of the best weeks of my junior high days. All day long we spent time on the Cannon River either swimming or fishing and just laying in the sun.
My friend’s brother had discovered Pink Floyd as his new latest, greatest band. He played the cassette tape over and over all week-long. I’m sure everyone in the campground was tired of it by the time we went home. The words of Pink Floyd will forever be etched in my brain like Just Another Brick in the Wall and song Money. I can still hear the sound of the cash register from the beginning of Money.
The brick wall pictured above is downtown Detroit. It was next to a parking lot for a bar we ate lunch at last fall when we visited Detroit. It was unlike any other brick wall I had seen because it didn’t look like they took any pride in their work. It was still unique to look at along with everything else nearby the bar.
Flying Gma's Blog 
Meanderer
September 27, 2012 at 10:27 am
It does seem to have been put together in a ‘slap-dash’ way but it does have character!
flyinggma
September 27, 2012 at 1:06 pm
I don’t know that I would be proud of that wall if I had been the bricklayer.
Patti
September 27, 2012 at 11:54 am
It is indeed interesting to look at – it also looks like it could come down at any time!
There’s something about that song – when my daughter heard Just Another Brick in the Wall, she wanted it on her ipod – and she’s a “good girl” who has always loved school. But even for her, I think the words taste deliciously rebellious.
flyinggma
September 27, 2012 at 1:04 pm
It is a rebellious type of song. Glad your daughter is a “good girl”. Hope she is enjoying her school year. I always found as a teacher the kids who loved to read in general liked school better than those who didn’t. There was always another book to read in their spare time.
dhphotosite
September 27, 2012 at 1:37 pm
That is indeed an interesting construction technique. My very first album (my Mom got it for me for Christmas) was Dark Side Of The Moon. I wonder if I still have it?
flyinggma
September 27, 2012 at 2:23 pm
My very first album I got was from Mom and Dad. It was the Beatles. The other they gave me was Peter, Paul and Mary.
nrhatch
September 28, 2012 at 9:50 am
Great post, pic, song . . .
That wall looks like “life” . . . a sometimes messy business . . . one experience building on the next . . . “held together” by force of will. 😀
flyinggma
September 28, 2012 at 11:49 am
How true Nancy. There are days I feel I could use a little more mortar with some good epoxy thrown into the mix.
pattisj
September 27, 2012 at 4:35 pm
That is an unusual wall, but I kind of like the effect of it. Middle school years are so hard, all the changes in schools, friends, classes, bodies. It’s a wonder we survived! 😉 I remember a weekend camping trip with a friend around that age. I was rarely allowed to go anywhere, but my parents agreed since they knew the family’s reputation was a good one.