"Sam" Goes to Burning Man

The Party's Over

This was just SOME of the leftover food.

Did I mention that we ate VERY well?

Monday/Tuesday we had turkey sandwiches from a homebaked turkey.

Tuesday night Julie & Steve brought in Oriental salad w chicken & peanuts.

Joe brought his famous pulled pork & buns-enough for 2 meals each.

I brought Mexican Dip (meat, raisens, jalepenos, almonds) & chips.

I baked a cake in the RV for Julie's birthday (with cooked fudge icing!)

And all the Otterpops we could eat sat ready in the freezer.

The kitchen was right in front of the door & under an air vent.

It was coated in gypsum dust from the beginning & until the end

no matter how many times I wiped it down per day.

It came right up later when we cleaned the interior with vinegar water.

Best $25 I ever spent. Gerlach fundraiser for their schools.

No lines, parents & students had all the right tools to clean the exterior.

Then, at the end, a geezer with a fire hose rinsed it down.

Temple Burn

Besides fireworks they had a crew of parachuters coming down

is that all?

No, they had FLAMETHROWERS shooting behind them!

The burn was gorgeous - and silent

the rowdy behavior is reserved for the burning of the man

all week, people wrote memorials & wishes on the temple walls

and the burning of those thoughts seemed special

I had heard that wildfires create enough heat to create their own weather,

but we saw that here

when it continually shot off wind devils big enough to be tornadoes.

This shows some of the detail the temple crew built into the 3-story lotus shape.

They had a full crew & heavy equipment going through Wednesday

and burned it on Sunday.

Life is short.

What else can they shoot flames from? Really???

That's a Utili-Kilt he's wearing. They're very popular here, and very expensive.

The flames just seemed to pour out the top of the tuba while he played.

Okay, I just LOVED this guy.

Yes, he's cute, but he was also playing cowboy music

and I was just sick to TEARS of the techno music all over the playa. It was sooooo cooool--he'd play a couple of bars and then for a beat with emphasis, this flame would shoot out the top of his guitar. Dah, dah, DUHHH.

I watched for a long time. And took many photos.

more ART - this time at night

Here's my favorite lady all lit up.

Labyrinth & glass mosaic eggs (10-15' tall?) in a huge wooden nest.

This is the "man" they burnt Saturday night. It was about 50% smaller than in previous years-- added to the dust storm, it seemed kinda anti-climatical.

These stationary flamethrowers were huge (look at scale) they "played" to the music, like the Bellagio fountains. Notice how much Burners like to burn things?

Bicycles

Actually a scooter - covered in silverware.

The back is covered is spoon bowls. Very cool. There was lust in my heart.

There were, literally, tons of bicycles on the playa.

They were more useful earlier in the week before

the thousands of walkers, bicyclists, and vehicles had pulverized the crust into dust.

FLAME THROWER SHOOTING GALLERY

Out in the middle of the playa surrounded by a construction fence, it looks tame.

But I'd read about it before getting to Burning Man and it was on the top of my to-do list.

The first night I wandered out there (open 9pm-2am Tues-Fri) alone

but the wind was too high and they didn't know when or if they could shoot that nite.

I got lost getting there & getting back to camp & despaired of making it again.

It explodes (ha!) with excitement at night, though.

The red sign is the rules. No clothes that melt, no loose clothes or hair.

The crowd around the fence is trying to not look stupid or drunk

so that they can have a turn at being one of the lucky 4 chosen.

Luckily, the officer in charge remembered me from the night before

and after taking off my dangling headband & tucking in some fringe,

I got the coveted nod. How about my sober friend, I asked?

Which one? I waved frantically at Joe.

He got the nod, but Joe asked if we could go in seperate groups

so we could photograph each other.

No promises was the answer, so Joe threw his camera to a stranger.

We each had our own safety officer & instructions.

The stranger took the shot of us on the front end.

You might not recognize us through the goggles, gloves & glow

but it thrills us to remember it.

Eco-Fashion Show

Joe in his Jester costume & Julie in her paper/plastic bag dress. They should have been in the costume show, but declined. I appreciated their support at attending the fashion show.