Climax at Burning Man

One of the central tenets of Burning Man is participating rather than spectating. Everyone is encouraged to contribute - in whatever way they see fit. On Saturday morning Ju-Hui and I volunteered at the ice concession. (I mentioned previously that ice and coffee are the only things for sale at BM for the benefit of area schools.) On a hot day (i.e. all of them) the line of customers can be 30 minutes deep so we tried to keep the ice moving as fast as possible. During a three hour shift our crew of ten people sold almost an entire semi trailer worth of ice and kept the line down to a short or no wait. Two of the guys and I were in the trailer the whole time lugging and breaking up five packs of bags of ice. Ju-Hui and others would take the ice from the edge of the trailer up to the counter. It was funny to watch her wrestle the occasional intact five pack up to the counter. She did not break in half as I feared she would.

It was a fun, if exhausting, shift. Our frozen hands developed dozens small cuts from the mounds of jagged ice and packaging they handled and our backs protested mightily - but we were happy. It was good to get to know the other volunteers and give a little bit back to the event. As an unexpected bonus they distributed the contents of a tip jar yielding a bit over $20 and a bag of ice each. Getting paid for volunteering felt weird but oh well. Then again, two shifts a day for the whole week would cover the $280 BM ticket price (at the cost of leaving my oh-so-delicate hands in tatters.)

Following our shift we returned to our tent to find a note from Pepper and Sarah. They'd arrived! After a bit of tent-tag we met up. Ju-Hui and I had actually stayed with them for a night in San Francisco (thanks again!) and it was good to see them again. They had left SF after work the previous evening and arrived around 1am. They'd wandered around until 4am and had already seen several of the highlights. As an added bonus they brought us the requested emergency rations of bananas, a playa-proof comb and four bottles of vodka. Just the basics.

As we loaded our backpacks for the day the wind kicked up bit and blew dust around. Ju-Hui and I, now grizzled veterans of the playa, shrugged it of while the newbies zipped themselves inside their tent. Soon it passed and we were on our way to the Petting Zoo with some precious cargo.

Pepper and I, being ever so gallant, let the girls take the bikes on ahead while we walked to opposite side of Black Rock City. Somehow we beat them to the Zoo leaving Pepper charmingly concerned and me using the opportunity to make fart noises with my armpit. It turned out Ju-Hui had just taken Sarah to the Temple and some other landmarks on the way. In the meantime I had given three bottles of Absolut to the good folks at the Zoo and got some hearty appreciation. Between volunteering and the vodka I felt much more relaxed about not being a leech on the gift economy.

We spent a good chunk of the afternoon laughing, drinking and eating goldfish crackers at the Zoo. Apart from a disturbing episode where a guy on some serious drugs had to be restrained and removed, a good time was had by all. Unfortunately Sarah started feeling poorly and went back to their camp with Pepper. Ju-Hui and I stuck it out until night fell and it was time to grab a spot to watch the Man burn.

Burning Man started in 1986 on a San Francisco beach when a few friends got together to burn a small wooden effigy. Each following year the Man and the crowds got bigger and bigger; eventually the whole thing was moved to the desert and the event took on a life of its own. Through it all the burning of the Man remained the central, communal - almost religious - event. Ju-Hui and I and tens of thousands of our closest friends sat on the ground around the perimeter with reverence and anticipation.

A procession of a hundred or so people dressed in white slowly entered the inner circle. The tension was palpable. They fanned out and began spinning flaming balls at the end of a rope, frantically gyrating to the beat of deep drums. The tempo went faster and faster as the entire troupe revolved around the Man and ended in a finale capped by the beginning of a violent fireworks display. The fireworks themselves were capped by a mushroom cloud style explosion which engulfed the man in flames and set the crowd cheering even louder than before. (YouTube video)

The minutes ticked by slowly as the man burned. Euphoria was replaced by deep introspection. What does this mean? Why are we here? Why do we even exist? How can we be better people? The intense heat of the burn kicked off a few dust devils - 40 foot tall tornadoes of spinning dust and smoke. Eventually the Man collapsed, and calm was replaced by a mad dash toward still burning remains.

Crude Awakening was the name of the giant oil derrick and worshipers art installation. Later that night we watched it, too, go up in flames after a fireworks display. The central pipe on the oil derrick actually carried high pressure propane and jet fuel. This created an absolutely immense explosion sending a billowing ball of fire hundreds feet into the night sky. We were told it would be a big explosion but we were unprepared for the true scale. (YouTube video)

After Crude Awakening Ju-Hui and I got separated and I was lucky enough to go by Thunderdome while they had fights going on. Thunderdome is an absolutely spectacular recreation of the gladiatorial arena from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. In both, bloodthirsty spectators climb all over the dome to watch a pair of tethered combatants fight to the death.

Two men enter. One man leaves.

Even though the sticks were padded a bit, people were really going at it. Anyone was welcome to sign up and try their luck. The whole thing struck me as a breath of fresh air in our society where people file and win lawsuits because coffee is hot. (YouTube video)

On the ride back to the tent I felt profoundly happy after the days events. I also felt profoundly tired. The Temple would be burned the next night but I didn't see how another day at BM could top this one. I was ready to not be hot and dirty and bombarded by stimulus. Back at the tent was a note from Pepper and Sarah saying they had headed home. Ju-Hui was fine with not staying the last day and we had a whole string of national parks to visit besides. It was settled. The next morning we packed up, left Dav a gift of the last bottle of vodka and hit the road. Many others had the same idea, unfortunately, and it took us an hour and a half to reach the highway.

Burning Man was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad I got a chance to go. Thanks to everyone I met there and especially to Ju-Hui for putting up with me.