The Burn!

We left Winnemucca UT around noon and headed toward the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. As we drove we noticed more and more vehicles loaded with bikes, boxes of costumes, food and smiling faces. We knew who each other were and we knew we where we were heading. We got a good healthy dose of community before we even got to Burning Man.

We wound our way through the tiny towns of Empire and Gerlach, being joined all the time by more and more cars, vans, and RV's. We did feel a little sheepish this year for two reasons. The first two times we went to Burning Man, we were there there for the whole week and scoffed at the "weekenders", the folks who come out to the desert for the big end of the week celebration. This year we were joining them on Wednesday, a full three days after the festival had started. The second reason we felt guilty was because of the home that we were towing behind us. In previous years we roughed it with only tents for sleeping, and a shade dome that kept the sun at bay but never did much when the big dust storms came though. Oh well, we did Burning Man this year the cushy way.

We drove onto the playa listening to BMIR (Burning Man Independent Radio) laughing at the adds to remind you to drink water and watch your mouth around the youngsters that would be attending. Everything went smoothly, we got our tickets at will call and headed to the first of two gates that we had to pass through before we made our way "home". At the first gate we had the unpleasant experience of having Boris and Natasha, two of our three houseplants, taken away. The girl was rude and didn't care that she was searching our home, spreading dust on our bed as she rummaged through closets and under the couch. She told me that Boris and Natasha would be donated to the town (I hope she was right). Pip squeak (who was hanging in that bathroom) failed to draw her attention so he is our Burning Man survivor and now hangs happily in one of our windows.

Needless to say she did not get the Utah peach I had in my hand as a gift to her.
We went through the second gate where the real greeters were. We both gave them hugs and handed out peaches.

We found a patch of desert near 5:55 and Intertidal. After we parked, set up the dome, and made dinner we went around to meet our neighbors. All the them (with a few exceptions) were Burning Man virgins so we felt very proud to be giving advice.

We set our on our first night on our bikes (another Burning Man first for us) and met wonderful friends and found wonderful art. This metal man was a part of a much larger piece of work, but his pose and demeanor was one of my favorites.

For anyone who has never seen Burning Man at night, picture an amusement park, all lit up. Strobes, neon, strange glows coming from the horizon, then multiply it by one hundred. The lights and shapes are so vibrant they make your eyes water. Now imagine the sounds, music thumping from cars decked out to the max with fur, feathers, grinning people who have hopped on for the ride. Imagine distant sounds of cheers coming from the Thunderdome, imagine sweet swirls of acoustic sitar from a nearby, dimly lit dome, screams of delight, purrs of recognition, whispers between loved ones, all of this mixed and mashed up in one cacophony that is the HUM at Burning Man. The hum never disappears completely, it changes decibels but it is always there.

We rode around open-mouthed, loving every minute of it, and when we got tired, we rode home, unlocked the door to our home and crawled into our very own bed. Ahhh, the joys of having an RV on the playa.

For the next few days we followed a rigorous schedule of sitting in the shade with our new friends, drinking coffee, and laughing. Then as the sun slowly encroached on our cool shade we made plans for the day. Sometimes we would hop on our bikes and head out to the big art far out on the horizon, sometimes we would try to find an event at a nearby camp, sometimes it was simply nap time again. Your days at Burning Man tend to follow creature comforts. You take care of your body, because when you are in 100+ degrees with whipping wind and dust you need to make sure you don't get dehydrated, or hungry or tired.

On Friday our good friends Nicole and Shiva arrived. In past years they would be the contingent to drive all of our big supplies from L.A. while Josh and I had to fly in to Reno, rent a car and drive all of our supplies out to the playa to meet them. On this day however, they pulled right up, and joined us in the RV while a particularly nasty dust storm rolled through.
After the storm passed we all decked ourselves out in our Burning Man best and headed out to see the man.

We opened the door to the RV to a much cooler desert. The dust storm had brought through a front. The sky had been swept clear except for dark, menacing storm clouds the were hugging the tops of the mountains along the horizon. The four of us headed toward the man. As we got closer to the man a light rain began to fall. After three years going to Burning Man I had never felt rain. We ran and laughed as the cold pinpricks of rain left clean spots of skin through the coating of dust that you wear while on the playa. We had come into view of the man who stood majestically against the contrasting blues of the sky. The man was perfectly outlined by the two most perfect rainbows arching exactly over him. We could see exactly where they began and ended smack on the playa. We all began laughing and running toward the man. Others had noticed the multicolored spectacle and joined us in our reverie. It was such an amazing and powerful moment. Shiva grabbed Nicole's hand and with emotion in his throat asked her if she would marry him. She replied without a moments hesitation that she would. Josh and I looked at each other unsure if the beautiful moment had just happened. As they kissed and held each other we saw the love that they have for each other and we joined them in their engagement celebration.

The rest of the time we spent at Burning Man was wonderful. We made even more new friends, we saw even more art and we soaked up the wonderful vibe of community that we all enjoy being a part of.

The man burned, for the second time, on Saturday night. Unfortunately, on the Tuesday before someone decided to take it upon himself to commit a little arson and attempted to burn the man down early. The Burning Man community rallied and the man was repaired and in place ready for the burn on Saturday. We stayed for the Temple burn on Sunday which is a much more somber celebration. Earlier in the week Josh and I had gone out to the temple and found some of the most amazing energy. In the past the temple has stood as a place for people to mourn lost friends and family, forgive themselves or others, and be a safe place for people to reflect, celebrate and mourn. This year was no different.

For myself, the first year I went to Burning Man my Mom's father, my Popa, was having a biopsy of the Melonoma that had been found on the top of his head. The day that he went in for this procedure Josh and I spent some good time at the HeeBeeGeeBee Healers Camp where I spoke with an amazing man named Donovan who asked me for a wish. I told him that I wanted my grandfather to make it over the hurdle of cancer. Donovan told me that he hoped my wish would come true but he also advised me to make a a place in my head for the fact that he may not get better. I had never had anyone speak so frankly to me about something so personal. I spent the rest of the day trying to balance these two thoughts, the wish for my Popa's health, and the realization that his good health may never return. My Popa lost his battle with cancer two years ago on September 21st. This year at Burning Man I wrote his name on the temple and when it burned I felt all the sadness I had felt just after he had died but I also felt that he would have enjoyed the power that this one amazing structure burning had for so many people.

We left the desert on Monday morning (along with about 20,000 other people) and as we stopped and started with the rest of the traffic we reflected on what we had seen, heard and done. I for one, have had a pretty good dose of Burning Man. I have put in and taken out of the experience exactly what I wanted. I could go again, but if I don't I know that what I experienced on the playa is something that I will always remember and cherish.

So now you have heard what Lindsay thought and felt during the Burn....now it is Josh's turn.