We Burned!

It's been a week since we got home from Burning Man, and I am still at a loss of what to say. A friend of mine sent me an e-mail last Tuesday asking how it was and my e-mail back to her said "All I can say is OH MY GAWD!!! That's all I have to say!" And I feel like I am still in that state. If you've been to Burning Man (BM), you know what I mean. If you haven't.....well.....I think I can try to write something.

This was my first time at BM, and my husband's too. And we went with two other friends who had never been before. I don't think any of us had any idea what we were in for! By the time Dave and I got there on Friday afternoon our friends Jen and Angie had already been there for a day, so they had sort-of eased into the atmosphere. And they were ready to start doing things, so Dave and I got pulled into excitement of it all right away. That night we went to the Silicon Valley burn group's party and met up with some friends. And we met some other cool people too. Then we headed out into the Playa (that's what they call the desert out there) to look at all the artwork lit up and see what was going on. We ended up riding, actually more like lumbering, around on the top of a 2 layer bus artcar and getting a great view of all the other artcars and all the going's on around us.

But, we didn't get to bed until 5 in the morning, and we were dead the next morning and slept in. So, we missed our morning yoga which I really wanted to try. That day was a very mellow one. We visited some of the big camps, and basically lazed around all day, trying to recover from the night before. That night was the burning of the man. Dave met up with a friend and went right up close to where the burn was going to be, but Jen and I took our lawn chairs and set-up by the bike racks and lamps. So, while Dave got a great close up view of the Burn, we got an great view of all the thousands of people parading towards the burn site, in their very best BM finery. It was a fabulous spectacle of color, creativity, and pure wildness. There were wigs, hats, furs, capes, boots, bodypaint, sparkle, wings, and costumes. It was just fabulous. We also got to see all the artcars come in. They were incredible. There was a full stage car that looked like a harem with bellydancers, a big pussycat filled with cats of both genders, several driving sofas, and a canopy bed full of a crowd in their PJ's having a "slumber party" to name a few. Jen's personal favorite was...a guy riding a tandem bike. He was on the front seat and on the back seat was a metal man pedalling along with him. But the metal man was completely on fire, from head to toe. It was really incredible to see. And the burning of the man was quite a site to see. And we also could litterally see the energy of the crowd rising as the man burned and finally fell. It was like a wave of passion flowing through the group.

That night we went to bed early, and the next day was our best day. We decided that we wanted to go see all the artwork in the desert before they all got burned down that night. So we hopped onto our bikes, and headed into the playa. However, there was a dust storm happening in the playa, that we had been protected from in the camp. So as we rode out there, we were assaulted by the wind and sand and we could barely see anything. Our group stayed very close together as we rode out blindly into the dust. We were prepared enough that we had goggles with us, and we covered our mouths with fabric so we could breathe. But I have to say, it really was amazing to ride out into the dust, not able to see anything, and not knowing where we were really going, and then to have a huge gorgeous structure suddenly appear in front of us out of the dust. I think that is exactly how someone should see desert art. It was absolutely magical. And then we would walk into the art and it was like a safe haven from the harsh conditions outside. And we would stay and just really enjoy how beautiful it was and watch the dust swirling around outside. We spent most of our day doing that, and then came back to center camp and collapsed with some cold drinks. We were all so covered in dust that Jen was teasing Dave and me that we were finally the same color! That's never happened before.

Dave spent the rest of the afternoon at the book tent and Jen and I went to the Necklace Factory tent and I made myself a gorgeous garnet necklace. We needed some quiet time to focus on something other than struggling for survival so this was exactly what we all needed. Another woman in the Necklace tent said she always makes a new necklace each time she comes to BM. That necklace sort-of represents who she was at that particular BM, and she is always so surprised at how each necklace is so different from any of the other ones. I think that sounds like a terrific idea and I am going to do that too if I ever go back.

Which brings me to the question you are probably dying to know the answer to. Are we going to go back? For me the answer is "I don't know yet." It was an amazing experience, and I'd love to do it again. But, there are so many adventures for Dave and me to have still, I'm not sure we'll repeat this one. We'll have to see how we feel each year as Labor Day weekend approaches. I think each year it will be a new decision, and that's how I like to run my life. Keep it an adventure. Keep it spontaneous. But I will say this. I've never experienced anything like this in my life. So, if you have the constitution to handle the desert and camping for a few days, I would highly reccommend that you experience Burning Man at least once in your life. And then you can say "All I have to say is OH MY GAWD!!!!!"