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Burning man 2
I woke up the next morning and opened my eyes to the blue roof of my tent.There was a fine layer of dust on everything I had including me.I stepped outside and adjusted my eyes to the unfiltered sunshine.Saw people around me busy at work setting up tents and shade structures. The city was growing before my eyes.
I looked right and a man pulled in next to my tent with an RV.We shot the s*** for a minute and he looked down at my bare feet on the desert floor.The alkali in the playa dust is really bad for feet (and the rest of you for that matter) he said.By the end of the festival he said, your feet could be in rough shape if you don't take care of them.
I went back in my tent and put on some shoes right away.That gave me a chance took a look at my tent in daylight. She still needed work.I noticed my frying pan from the night before sticking out of the sand, covered in rebar bash marks.I knew that a real sledgehammer was what I needed to finish the job here.
Later, I biked over to the Fishbug where the crew was there already hard at work getting her ready for Monday (the start of the festival).The wind was strong and made it difficult to move the bike along the soft ground.
Jay was there as well under the shade structure they had built with pliers and wire mesh fixing the eyes to the bug. I went to grab a beer from the makeshift shed they had put together before I got started with some work of my own.I opened the door and a violent gust of wind and sand blew the door and me along with it.Poe (the Fishbug computer/science genius) routinely yelled dust storm.I turned and had to shield my eyes from the cloud.With my free hand I slipped on my goggles and put up the camouflage bandana from around my neck.Still holding on to the door as it flapped in the wind, I looked around and couldn't even see the people I was just standing next to.I could however, hear them all yelling and shouting like they were riding a bull at a rodeo.After a few minutes, the storm past and I fully understood there would be no escaping the dust out here.My skin and clothes already had a thin layer.I was starting to look… well, like everyone else.Realizing that the door would be a hazard, a few of us (Gary and Kevin) went to work getting it more secure.
A bit later, Jess called us all together for a meeting.We gathered in a circle underneath our shade structure sipping warm Pabst Blue Ribbons as we listened to her speak.We went over the plan of attack as far as getting the bug ready to go and also scheduled our fire safety meeting for Sunday.She also told us about a dinner we were invited to at Tree Ring Circus, a camp around at 7:30 and Esplanade.She handed us all medallions to allow us entry.
After a few more whiteouts at the site, I left on my bike. Wandering the playa where the art installations were was stunningly beautiful.Artists were busy getting their projects just right for the start of the festival in two days.I passed a giant dragon who I assumed breathes fire, and two gigantic brain neurons communicating.Branches of metal projected out of two cores about 20ft away from each other.Later I learned its name was Soma.This was made by friends of the Fishbug crew, also know as the Flaming Lotus Girls (FLG).Many of the crew I was on had worked with FLG before they started their own solo projects.
I biked further along and saw something silver projecting into the atmosphere.The wind and dust settled and in its place, I saw a giant stainless steel rocket that dwarfed the landscape.It looked like it was almost ready for take off.People in goggles and full body coveralls were hanging from staging with wrenches in their hands about 100ft in the air.It was amazing to see everyone out in these harsh elements so dedicated to their work.I thought to myself, it takes a special kind of person I think to do this every year.
After some more time exploring, I decided to check on my tent.It had been in the back of my mind all day.The winds were strong, so I felt like some of the rebar would surely be loose.I wasn't even sure it would be there at all.I biked back along the esplanade, weaving through art cars, costumed cyclists, and naked pedestrians to my campsite on Chaos Street. The wind picked up as I arrived and another cloud of dust hit me.I couldn't see anything but my handlebars and a patch of ground.My pedaling became harder and my speed slowed to about half as fast as I had been going.
When the sun was visible again, I saw that Jays tent was blowing away.s***, I muttered under my breath.Adrenaline pumped through me as dropped my bike in the sand.I rushed over and grabbed her rain tarp in mid air before it sailed away to a different part of the city.I looked down and put in one of the rebar stakes the best I could by hand.Then another stake came out and another piece of the tent flew off.I decided I would just ride back to Jay and have her come back.(This may be a no brainier, but phones don't work on the playa too well.) Her tent was blowing like a flag on a flagpole but looked like it could hold on for about 5 minutes.I wiped my goggles and jumped on my bike.Of course, as soon as my right foot swung the pedal one time around and my back tire and chain completely dislodged.I fell sideways off the bike and onto the desert floor ripping my hand and leg on the metal from the frame.Playa dust got inside my goggles and stung my eyes.There was some blood dripping onto my sock in a line from my knee.I picked myself up and observed that my tent was now blowing away too. I started dropping incoherent combinations of swear words like f***ing s*** and stupid f***ing b******, and a bunch of other stuff to vent my frustration. I hobbled over to the roof of the shade structure and held onto one end as the legs wobbled back and forth.More of Jay's tent was blowing away behind me as I held on.I was angry as hell at this point and continued my slew of curses.
Like if on cue, Jay showed up a second later.I calmed down and we began to put our camp back together.We secured her tent first and banged in 5 new 2ft. rebar stakes at the weak points.I pulled my car to the back of my shade structure and tied everything I had to that. Then I tied everything again for peace of mind.It was not going anywhere now.While I was working, Jay managed to put my bike back together.Everything was back in order in under an hour.
I took a well-deserved nap and got up in time for the dinner for the artists at Tree Ring Circus.I stepped out of the tent and saw the sun falling behind the mountains that cradled Black Rock City.The air felt significantly cooler so I grabbed a sweatshirt before I left.I cautiously jumped on my bike ( I think I cautiously jumped on the bike the rest of the week) and made my way down esplanade.I was still feeling the wounds I had incurred a few hours earlier and took it really easy on the ride.Thankfully, I found it to be working fine after Jay's adjustments.
I got there a bit late and saw the whole crew sipping alcohol and relaxing in camping chairs under a canopy.I sat down and was offered my choice of wine or a glass of aged whiskey.I chose the whiskey.
Soon after an Asian woman (Wendy) holding a big pot with a plastic ladle projecting from the top, cut through the mingling crowd. She set it down and opened the lid.Steam poured out of the top and filled the night air with a hearty aroma. A line formed behind the pot and one by one we got fed.Course after course of amazing vegetarian food came out one by one.I think there were 6 all together.It tasted better out in the desert than it would have back in everyday civilization for some reason.
Someone yelled lets hear it for Wendy.We all yelled thank you at the top of our lungs.She bowed for us quickly and was on to her next task of organizing her kitchen and ordering people to clean.
Then, 2 girls randomly walked by and stopped in to check out the winding down of our mini party.One was completely topless and the other had a bra on.They were both stunningly beautiful as I remember. (And not because of the whiskey I drank or the fact that they were a naked) Many of us quickly became engaged in conversation with them. Nudity didn't feel weird or out of the ordinary.It just felt natural after a while.You get used to it out here. (you sorta have to) Everyone is just doing his or her thing.You are truly free to be yourself or even someone else for that matter. Social constraints fade away and your personal liberty is not only accepted, but encouraged. You create your own reality at Burning Man (Part of the point of all this madness to me is realizing that you can actually create your reality anywhere).
I got to talking to the girl with the bra and found out her playa name was Goldilocks.Some people at Burning Man take on a name and sometimes a whole new persona.This can be chose by the person, but is usually given to them after some odd series of events.In a way you have to earn it like you would a Native American name.It has come to be part of the tradition out here in Black Rock City. It was probably given to her because of her curly blonde hair I imagined. I didn't ask though and just let the conversation flow where she wanted it to go.
We kept talking and found ourselves wandering away from the crowd around her naked friend.I felt connected to her even though we just met.We grabbed a seat on the desert floor and she grabbed my hand.The weight of her body leaned on my shoulder. The spaces between our speaking grew longer as we relaxed into each other.I learned she was a first year teacher in Denver.This was also her first year to Burning Man so we had that in common too.Time just seemed to fly by as we two strangers learned about each other, under rather strange circumstances.We pushed closer and closer and soon found ourselves kissing under the stars.She slipped her bra off and lay back in the sand as I held her.Maybe I should stop here…
A while later, her friend called for her and she said goodbye.She told me to come by where she was camped at and gave me detailed instructions on how to find her.I went looking for her once later on in the week, but she was out at the time. Unfortunately, I never got to see her again.She remained in my thoughts though.
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