Author: nananoyz

I'm a semi-retired crazy person with one husband and two cats.

Masami Nonaka, a Child’s Memories of WWII, Waiting at the Assembly Center, Part One

I remember the first time I learned of the Japanese internment camps that were erected during WWII. I was an adult. Yep, our textbooks made no mention of this atrocity. At first I thought I was reading a piece of fiction, so I researched and found that yes, indeed, our own country, in a fit of fear and ignorance, interred its own citizens in terrible conditions. And there are some who’d do it again–to Muslim Anericans, to Gay Americans, basically to anyone they don’t understand. Read and learn from this piece by one of my favorite bloggers, sanselife.wordpress.com.

sanseilife's avatarsanseilife

imageMas Nonaka  was born August 20, 1934.   The youngest of three children he was the baby of the family.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the evacuation of Japanese Americans to internment camps. Mas was a 7 year old child.

While these relocation camps were being built, evacuees were ordered to stay at what was called assembly centers.  The largest of these assembly centers was the Santa Anita Racetrack in California where Mas remembers spending a hot summer.  These American citizens were allowed to bring only what they could carry with them to the assembly centers and consequently lost most of their possessions.

Beginning in March 1942, the almost 19,000 Japanese Americans that lived at the Santa Anita Racetrack were housed in barracks or in converted horse stalls.  Mas remembers a friend of his that lived in one of the…

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Shopping for Clothes Alone Vs. Shopping for Clothes with a Child

Alone:

–Park at a distance from the store for exercise.
–Meander leisurely through the aisles speaking politely to fellow shoppers.
–Take multiple items into the dressing room. Repeat as necessary.
–Try on clothes with grace and humor.
–Speak kindly to crying children.
–Indulge their beleaguered parent(s) with understanding smiles.
–Secretly judge their parenting skills.
–Take your time in the checkout line.
–Contemplate having a glass of wine over lunch at your favorite bistro.
–Linger over lunch.
–Take the long way home after lunch.
–Put your feet up and take a nap; you deserve it.

With Children

–Park next to a shopping cart corral.
–Wrestle child into a cart.
–Bribe as needed.
–Circumvent any aisle in the store that might be construed as a toy aisle.
–Select outfits based on concentration of Disney characters per square inch.
–Herd child into dressing room.
–Bribe as needed.
–If clothing fits, buy in every color.
–Make beeline to checkout counter.
–Pay while talking over chatty and/or crying child.
–Make rude gesture at judgemental childless person. How dare they smile.
–Forget which aisle you’ve parked on.
–Finally find car, wrestle child out of cart and into car seat.
–Promise driving through McDonald’s for a Happy Meal if the child stays awake on the way home.
–Contemplate having a nap later if the kid doesn’t fall asleep in the car on the way home.
–Take two Advil, straight up, no water.

  

Volunteer Gig

One week from today I will begin volunteering at Tallahassee Animal Services. I’ve passed the interview process, attended an orientation, and even successfully answered a brief quiz. I’m so ready!

Lately I’ve been dreaming about the cats I’ll be working with. Cats and kittens of all sizes visit my subconscious, demanding love, food, and care. In my dreams I also feel I am responsible for naming them: Vader, Anakin, Katniss, Four, and Tris. Okay, I read way too many young adult and scifi novels. 

Sometimes in my dreams the cats carry on full blown conversations with me. We discuss their days and the people they saw come through the shelter since my last scheduled visit. These cats have a lot of hopes and dreams for their futures. I sure hope I can help them with that.

Peace, people! 

sample cat

Hormonally Challenged

Some nights it doesn’t pay
to try and fall asleep.
I toss, turn, fume, and burn
and sometimes even weep.

My brain is heavy in its cage
too tired to engage in thought,
still round and round it plods
until every nerve is shot.

Physically I’m just a mess
of hot and sweaty limbs;
sticky breasts, and chafing thighs
turn nighttime hours grim.

Just once I’d like to fall asleep
free of worry, care, and pain,
yet I fear that won’t take place
until I’ve died or gone insane.

  

Peace, people!

Prince Charm-ing.

History of Language: Write a piece of fiction describing how the phrase, “third time’s a charm” came to be.

Blame it on Ella;
although, she had no intent
to implement three
as the gold standard
in fairy tale decisions.
When the shoe didn’t
fit either sister,
and the prince was at wit’s end
Ella rose from ash
placing her dainty
foot inside the glass slipper
and Cinderella
won the heart and soul
of the handsome Prince Charm-ing.
And they all rejoiced.

Ok, I know the prince’s retinue scoured the countryside for the foot that fit the glass slipper. Technically, Cinderella wasn’t the third one to try it on, but she was the third one in her household to make the attempt. So this is my story and I’m sticking to it!

  
Peace, people!

The Songs of Whales

humpback males sing soulfully
beautiful songs beyond belief.
who among us can listen and
doubt their deep intelligence?

we only share this earth
it is not ours alone,
yet we have pretended,
squandered, and decimated.

This poem was inspired by a story on National Public Radio. I’ve linked to it below. I must admit, the songs made me cry.

http://www.npr.org/2015/08/06/427851306/it-took-a-musicians-ear-to-decode-the-complex-song-in-whale-calls?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150806

  

Peace, people!

Three Coins; Double or Nothing

I’ve tossed in one coin
over my shoulder, eyes closed
end over end, plop!

Wish made earnestly:
happiness for my grandkids.
with a taste of strife.

Next coin flies with ease
sails into fountained circle
carries second wish:

Please grant us peace now
on this earth we call our home;
celebrate all life.

One final coin soars,
skips across the still surface
one final grand wish

For three more wishes,
three more chances to change life,
double or nothing.

  

Math Humor for the Good of Humanity

 Well, that might be overstating my point, but 
I taught math to sixth graders. Trust me when I say it helps to foster a sense of humor.

  
And sometimes a joke will spark an understanding, an aha! moment,

  
not to mention a shared experience. Never underestimate the power of shared laughter as a teaching tool,

  
because some students latch on to the offbeat as a way to store information that otherwise would pass right over their heads.

 

Even Par

Studly Doright shot even par today. Apparently that’s a big deal. 

I took two naps today, surely that trumps anything that happened on the golf course. 

  
Peace, people.

Cooking for Studly: Not an Update

 A friend shared this on Facebook and tagged me in the post.

 
So far, no demons have been summoned in my cooking adventures, but just in case, I won’t be cooking anything from scratch.

Peace, people!