I’ve just arrived home from Burning Man 2012. For me, it was the Year of the Burn. Featured above is the lighthouse, which was one of numerous regional sculptures that surrounded the Man and went up in flames on Thursday night.
The world disappears and then magically reappears. Strange beings wander by. A huge jack rabbit with 15-foot long ears slips past in the dust followed by 30-foot tall Conestoga wagon filled with gyrating people. An 80-year-old man strolls down our road, naked.
A rabbit with large ears slipped by our camp on Foxglove Street in Black Rock City. A dust storm limits our view.
The next day I went to visit the rabbit. He lived down the street from us.
A large Conestoga Wagon with blaring music, gyrating Burners and clearer skies followed the rabbit.
Welcome to Burning Man 2012.
These are the sights from our front porch at 5:50 and Foxglove. We have just arrived and I am sitting outside with Luna, Adios, and Punkin watching the world meander down our dusty road. Just opposite us a gypsy cave billows. A man-sized stuffed bear sits inside on the left. There’s a piano on the right.
The gypsy tent directly across the road from us at 5:50 and Foxglove on the inner circle at Burning Man 2012.
Past the gypsies and past the Intense-Intents-In Tents Camp from Los Angeles the Purple Platypus Band is setting up on top of their bus. Soon they have added their raucous music to the ceaseless rhythm of the Black Rock City. Two women climb onto the RV and begin working hula-hoops in time with the music. Outlined against the sky, they are quite sensual.
The Purple Platypus Band at 6th and F on top of their bus in full swing and wearing their Playa get-up.
A pest control man walks through our camp and sprays Luna and Punkin. Is he for real?
I consume a couple of cold brews and my bladder suggests I hike over to the porta-potties. It’s insistent. Grumbling, I leave my comfortable chair and front row seat. Thirty-two toilets and a crowd greet me. I line up behind a Martian, two vampires, and a statuesque six-foot tall woman wearing purple pasties, a purple G-string, and purple platform shoes. My attitude improves.
Back in camp the desert gods are playing the devil with dust. The Man is there and then he isn’t. Center camp disappears and suddenly we are in a whiteout. Dust trickles into our eyes, ears and noses. Our shirts, shorts, shoes, hats, bandanas and socks turn playa white.
A dust storm rapidly approaches, wiping out the view and guaranteeing we and our vehicles will soon be covered in Playa dust.
It is good to be back in Black Rock City.
Over the next two weeks my blog will feature Burning Man 2012. Join me as I explore the colorful world of Burning Man at night, attend burns, check out the art and spend time with fellow members of the Horse-Bone Tribe.
While Burning Man is fascinating by day, at night it approaches magical.
Wandering through Time and Place 