Full Body Burden

The Iversen family acquires horses after they move to their house in Bridledale. Iversen particularly finds joy in riding her rambunctious horse Tonka and, later, her horse Sassy. Iversen uses her daily horse rides to relish the beauty of the landscape and escape family tension: “I’m alone. That’s the best part, to be alone with the horse and the gently rolling hills and the wind bending the tall prairie grass into long ripples of gold” (70). As Rocky Flats’ influence grows, the riding landscape changes: “When we first moved to Bridledale, Karma and I could gallop down dirt roads and across fields [...]. Now there are houses in the way” (113). Iversen’s former sense of freedom subsides, giving way to Rocky Flats’ enormous sway on the area. 

Several fires recur throughout Full Body Burden. The narrative opens with a house fire at Iversen’s childhood home, caused by a still-lit cigarette igniting the living room curtains. Iversen also details first-person accounts of the 1969 Mother’s Day fire at Rocky Flats, which brings the plant’s activities into the public eye. A 1957 fire at the plant likely causes a nuclear criticality and lingering radioactive elements in the environment for years afterward.