Burning Man 2005

center camp is filled with constant activity. today i saw two women dressed as jellyfish dancing in circles. one of them got tangled in the ropes that hold up center camp “JELLYFISH NEEDS HELP!!” she said and a dozen naked painted people came to her rescue. everyone is mildly insane here at any given time of day… and it’s very amusing… i am craving anything cold or salty. i start fantasizing about running water, about a hotel shower and then a bath and then maybe another shower in succession… i feel the water all around me and then i open my eyes to see my dusty cracked feet, the dust in the texture of my writing hand… just then i open a piece of mail sent to me by redcap, whose house we stopped at last year for a shower after burning man… inside is a photo of him with goggles on in his shower with greetings from ‘shower man’.
saturday night after the man burned down… wrapped in blankets on a hammock after watching my friends waltz at the foot of gigsville’s uber-man. the gentle rocking and comfort is polar to my burning man experience… extreme temperatures, endless adventures, my body adjusting, my mind expanding, my heart filled with love for my friends. the experience settles in now and i push away thoughts of leaving. my hands and hair have permanent layers of dust.
favorite playa moments…. standing naked in a sandstorm with shaunte and then watching her chase her dress hilariously as the wind threatened to take it. huddled in an art car shaped like a diner booth, flanked on both sides by more art cars… one of a huge cheshire cat, the other of a giant radio flyer with a stripper pole. we had adventures out in the deep abyss driving to a tall ladder and to various art installations. before sunrise we warmed up by the car-b-que (a car-shaped fireplace gather spot with aliens carved into it.) a bunch of mad max desert friends gathered by fire for sustenance and entertainment. standing within the fire conclave circle before the man burned down, photographing the best of the best AT their best. roo & eric spun poi and walked toward me. instinctively i lay down and they straddle me, fire inches above me… the deep texture of the playa, the virgin cracks when we first arrived. our first sunrise with hardly anyone here yet. now it’s a circus!