7 year Anniversary

On Oct. 16 of this year, Jake and I celebrated our 7th anniversary together! We have had our up and downs, but 7 years, 2 little girls, 3 dogs, and a house later....He is STILL the only man I could ever live out my life with.

So, for this year we wanted to have a fun date and we chose to go to the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History ( http://www.nuclearmuseum.org/). Living in NM, the history of nuclear science is closely related and intertwined. We have the Los Alamos National Labs from which the first nuclear bombs were created as well as the Trinity sight at which the first nuclear bombs were detonated. A couple of years ago I read a great book, American Prometheus, which depicted the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the main scientist that oversaw the Manhatten Project. This book was absolutely wonderful and won a Pulitzer Prize (highly recommend it!). Since then, as well as learning a lot about the Uranium in NM and environmental issues associated with radioactive waste near Los Alamos, I have been quite intrigued to learn more and more on the subject. Much to my surprise, Jake thought this would make a unique anniversary date!

Letter From Einstein to President Roosevelt discussing uranium as a nuclear source.

The museum is well put together, and though it is small, it is rich with historical artifacts and information. The museum takes you on a walking journey of the history of nuclear warfare as well as how it affected pop-culture over the years. The museum has two life-size models of the two bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the test bomb exploded at Trinity.

How uranium is produced through fission reaction.

Replicas of Fat Man and Little Boy

Glass rock produced from the blast at Trinity

The "gadget" dropped at Trinity

Cold War fall out shelter

Actual "dudds" - nuclear missiles that got damaged but never exploded

Outside, there are actual nuclear bomb aircraft carriers as well as other military vessels used for transporting and using nuclear weapons. While we were outside, we had a neat experience. Throughout our walk inside the museum we had noticed a loan wanderer somewhat closely following us and when we were outside he came up to talk and say hello. He was a gentleman who had flown from Israel to visit his son at the Harvard Business School and then embarked on one of his life dreams, to drive the Rt. 66 across America! We just happened to be at the museum together during this point in his journey. He was very kind and just wanted to chat. He told us how he had always dreamed of taking this journey and that he has a very close connection and feeling for the U.S. That night his wife would be flying from Boston to meet him and continue their Rt. 66 journey together to California. It was a simple encounter, but it helped to make our experience even more memorable.(We forgot to take our pic with him, but he has one with Jake)

He looks so handsome!

The museum also has an area for kids to do some hands-on stuff and I highly recommend a visit for anyone in the area. 

Well, that was our anniversary date and I'll never forget it. Salud!

P.S. I'll always remember the account from the blast at Trinity; a young blind girl used to get driven from either Belen or Los Lunas (South of Albuq.) into Albuquerque in order to go to school. The morning of the blast, being still dark out, the blast turned the sky into daylight and it was so bright that she remarked, "What is that light?". The history of nuclear science is intriguing but also extremely heart-wrenching. To know that common people, children playing, women doing their daily chores, men going to work to feed their families, were completely disintegrated when the bomb exploded. During times of war, it is always hard to remember that we are ALL human!