The Junkyard Club takes place in the state of New Mexico. New Mexico is a wonderful state with a warm, dry climate, deserts, and mountains.

Smokey the Bear was from New Mexico. He was found clinging to a tree in New Mexico after a forest fire. The state flower (yucca) was chosen by kids in 1927 after the government did a survey in schools to see what flower the kids liked best. New Mexico is the first state to choose an official State Cookie, the biscochito. The biscochito (biz-co-cheeto) was adopted as the official cookie in 1989. The biscochito is a small anise (licorice) flavored shortbread cookie used during special celebrations, wedding receptions, baptisms, and religious days, continuing a tradition brought by the Spanish. (For recipes, click here).

About the State Flag

The red and yellow colors of the New Mexico state flag were first brought to Santa Fe in 1540 by the Spanish. The motif in the center of the flag is an ancient symbol of the Native American people called the Zia who lived in the Zia pueblo. They believed that the "Great Giver" gave in groups of four. The four sets of four rays represent the four gifts that are; the four directions (north, south, east, and west), the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter), the four times of day (sunrise, noon, evening, and night), and the four stages of life (childhood, youth, middle years, and old age). All of these are bound together in an eternal circle of love, without beginning or end.

The original state flag consisted of a blue field with a miniature United States flag in the upper left corner, the state Great Seal in the lower right corner, and "New Mexico" embroidered diagonally across the field from lower left to the upper right corner.

In 1923, the D.A.R. conducted a design competition to produce a flag that was representative of New Mexico's unique character. The distinguished Santa Fe physician and archaeologist, Dr. Harry Mera won the competition. His wife, Reba constructed the winning design. In March of 1925, Governor Arthur T. Hannett signed the legislation which proclaimed the Mera design as the official state flag.

For more information on the state symbols (and to see pictures of them), check out this web page: State Symbols

For more information on New Mexico: New Mexico Department of Tourism

Click here to read the first chapter of The Junkyard Club.

If you want to know more about me and how I started writing books, click here to read my biography.