cottonwood tree in albuquerque, nm

kiplinger magazine released a survey last week stating that more millionaires, 885 households, live in los alamos, nm than anywhere else in the nation.

according to census data, new mexico has the second highest concentration of indigenous people in the us at nearly 200,000 (9% of the states population).

in late june, the las conchas fire hit the people who live in santa clara pueblo particularly hard, destroying almost half of their watershed and eighty percent of their forest. residents of the pueblo say that the ecological damage cannot be corrected in their lifetime. the wild fire that hit this area was originally headed straight for los alamos and its nuclear labs when fire departments took measures to re-route the blaze away from los alamos and into santa clara.

this is what post-colonialism looks like.

so the journey begins!

monday night, a strange car arrived at the albuquerque airport to shuttle me to my new home. veggie oil (which really does make the car smell like french fries) powered us back to trinity house.

tuesday morning we all headed to los alamos nuclear lab for a vigil to remember our japanese friends who suffered through the nagasaki nuclear atrocity on august 9th 1945. los alamos is a strange place. the town’s superficial serenity acts as a well-constructed distraction from the horrors the lab still creates and nurtures. at 20,000 employees, the lab is almost a town unto its self.

wednesday is the first day of service for the week. trinity house provides laundry service, showers, and breakfast for about a dozen folks a day, 4 times a week. the numbers were low today but i got a feel for the rhythm of things and met some regulars.

good times. good times.