Road Moments - Part I

My entire working life I dreamed of, one day, having the time to be on the open road and live the life of a part time vagabond and traveler of the American West.  The last few years, I suppose one could say, I've been truly "living the dream".  I thought it would be enjoyable to recap those years in terms of my personal experiences both as an exercise in re-living many of my trips and, perhaps, to stimulate my readers minds to visit some of the same places.   I will recall my funniest moments, happiest moments, coldest moments, strangest, etc.   This, my saddest moment, is the first post of the endeavor.

I was motivated to do this blog project while listening to the free book on Audible.com called "The Home Front: Life in America during WW2" (which I highly, highly recommend).  Stories of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated at concentration camps (euphemistically called internment camps) all over America reminded me of the most crushing moment of my travels when I visited the Manzanar concentration camp off Highway 395 near the Eastern Sierra Nevada. 

I have, perhaps like many others of us, experienced deep and profound injustice and loss  in my life and as I walked around the camp I immersed myself in thinking about what life must have been for these people, torn from their homes, belongings sold or absconded,  and the simple plain horror of that.  The historical site, designated in 1992,  has now built similar barracks and other features of the camp to help people, like me, fully comprehend the plight of those of Japanese ancestry in  our country at the onset of World War II until 1945.   It is a deeply touching and profound experience.  As I meandered around on that typically windy and hot  day I was overcome by sadness and frustration with our world and my country.  

At the end of my visit I decided to check out the visitor center and bookstore.  When I walked in I was surprised to find many families of Japanese ancestry in the Center.  I spoke to the Rangers at the front desk and began wandering through the bookstore when I saw a young Japanese family, a mother , father and their small, perhaps 5 year old, son  near one of the bookshelves.  The father was stooped over explaining to his son that his grandfather had been held at Manazar. The little boy looked very confused and then softly said,  "But, why Daddy, why?" The father simply looked away with tears in his eyes.

I was overwhelmed with sadness and grief and anger at the injustice.  As I write this today I still am.  

In the next few weeks (months?) I'll be listing some of my favorite memories of my life on the road.  I hope you'll enjoy reading them as much as I will sharing them. 

In the meantime, especially in today's political milieu, you might consider a visit to one of our great National Historical Monuments - Manzanar wouldn't be a bad place to start. 

I've included some photos that I took that day.  Since my photography is a bit better these days I need to go back and do it justice. In the meantime...