I was born in New Mexico (in Alamogardo, where Trinity Site is located—home of the first atomic bomb test)...
Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was tested at 5:29:45 a.m. Mountain War Time on July 16, 1945.
The 51,500 acre area was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975. The landmark includes base camp, ground zero, and the McDonald ranch house where the plutonium core to the bomb was assembled. Visitors to a Trinity Site Open House see Ground Zero, "Jumbo" bomb casing, the McDonald House, one of the old instrumentation bunkers, historical photos, a Fatman bomb casing, and part of the original crater left by the explosion revealing "Trinitite" (greenish colored glassy substance formed by the heat and pressure of the explosion).
http://www.alamogordo.com/activites/trinity.html
...but raised in Southern California. My parents moved around the golden state a bit before settling in a small town called Ojai, near Santa Barbara. It's completely encircled by mountains (hence the name, which is Chumash for "circle" or "nest"), is lush with orange and avacado groves, a national forest in its backyard, and mountains full of hotsprings, bay laural, wild sage and rosemary. Probably because of growing up in such a beautiful place, and because of the damage I've witnessed to this gorgeous valley by urban (L.A.) sprawl, I'm kind of a rabid environmentalist. I grew up camping and backpacking in the Sierras, and have also backpacked in the Tetons, Beartooths, Marble Mountains, Badlands, and Black Hills, as well as on the North Shore of Lake Superior and in Yellowstone.
I hold a BA in English Literature from Humboldt State University in northern California, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writer's Workshop. I've been teaching Creative Writing for nearly two decades, along with First-Year Writing, Poetry of Rock, Women's Literature, and Contemporary American Poetry.
I live in Moorhead, Minnesota with my husband John and cat Mojo. My number one hobby is flying and collecting kites. Among my single-line collection, I have a traditional 40 ft. Chinese dragon and some rare Japanese "hummer" kites which are actually audible in flight. I also have many dual-line trick and ballet models, which are flown to music in national and international competitions.
I'm not sure what else to say.
A little girl on the parameter of Trinity Site. Look out for residual radiation, kid!