Little red schoolhouse. Photo by Jim Reed.
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At first I imagined a small tree growing in a planter in the corner of the old red schoolhouse when Kevin told me there was a tree inside.
"Why is that unusual?" I asked. "Lots of people put trees inside homes.
"No," responded Kevin, "It’s a big tree. They put a big tree inside the schoolhouse."
Sitting at a picnic table behind The Trading Post at Three Rivers, I had already spent the better part of the day mystyfied by more than 21,000 Indian carvings at the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, 23 miles north of Tularosa.
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Black and white photo of the Ground Zero tower, displayed along the north fence.
Photo by Jim Reed
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Day One of the Atomic Age, I imagine during the eighty mile drive from Alamogordo to Trinity Site, New Mexico, was much like today except for the early morning rain postponing the experiment from 4:00 to 5:30 a.m. Darkness filled the elongated valley bordered by mountains of hard granite, solidified lava flows and eroded mesas.
The rain was undoubtedly welcomed by the sparse yet hardy vegetation decorating the valley floor. The rare summer moisture provided relief from the searing, relentless desert heat – a brief chance to rejoice and replenish moments before disappearring in an unnatural and previously unknown manner. Except for the sound of our 200 vehicle convoy headed to Ground Zero, Day One was sunny, windless and serene, just like today.
In a valley twenty or so million years of age, change comes slowly. A picture taken sixteen million years ago would look very much like a picture taken a million years later. On Day One, July 16, 1945, at Trinity Site’s Ground Zero, change came quickly.
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