i usually take today off. i had never been to the Weldon Spring Site, which is the location of the massibe white rock sarcophagus that contains the toxic remains of the fissile materials mined and enriched for the Manhattan Project. i still would like to write my Nuclear Occult History of the Central Midwest someday, and this seemed the logical place to start looking for data and inspiration.

i should have taken notes. it's as stark and dystopic as any 70's sci-fi film set. and the spring wind whistling through the metal stairs sounded like distant, ghostly air-raid sirens, which i was told was not a deliberate design feature. and while the view from the top of the sarcophagus was impressive, one could not shake the impression that every stone that made up the giant containment mound, piles of limestone stretching for acres in all directions, was a grave marker.

it is, most assuredly, not a place of honor.