Friday, September 17, 2010

My Swan Song

Another burn come & go.  
Another amazing time in the desert, the harsh elements - first rain, then a double rainbow (!!), then the heat, then a dust storm (of course), then freezing cold temps at nite/early morning.
I love(d) all of it.  

My friend Jessica says Burningman is "the most amazing place on earth."  Quite frankly, I have to agree with her.  It's not for everybody, definitely not for people who can't handle being dirty ALL THE TIME or need certain amenities to get thru the day, but for those of us that don't mind, it really is the most amazing place on earth.  You will never see art in the real world that's created just for this event.  You will never see costumes in the real world that are created just for this event (or maybe you will if you live B'man all year round, I suppose) - while Halloween is my favourite holiday EVAR, it just doesn't hold a candle to what I've seen out there.  You will never be around every walk of life beaming with creativity and love...TOGETHER.  You just don't.
You also won't have super fine dust in every crevice of your body all day everyday like you would when you're out there, but that's besides that point.

This was number 6 for me.  Every time I go to B'man I come back wondering what the next year is going to be like.  I'm like a little kid out there - I ride my bike around staring in wonder at "all the cool shit" and everyone that's made the trek...with a big smile on my face.  
I love it.  I really do.
This year was fun, but also hard for me.  
As you may have read from my earlier post, I took my friend's ashes down to be placed at the temple.  I was an emotional rollercoaster that day.  We got to the temple, walked in, and I immediately walked right into this little nook which I knew Cristal would've loved and placed her there, cried my eyes out, then blew her a kiss and told her I'd see her again someday.
From there we rode past the man and back to camp, got ready, and headed out to find some good beats to dance in hers & Shura's honour.  It was a good night.


I named this post "My Swan Song" as this is most likely my last year heading up a fire conclave and (possibly) fire performing in general.  I no longer want to be in charge of rounding up fire performers & hoping we make it into the Great Circle to spin.  No more 3 hour meetings on the playa when I could be running around or hanging out with my camp mates.  Next year, I want to come back as a spectator.  Or, join an existing conclave as just a performer and not as their shin.  Things are changing quickly - we're all getting older, people are getting married, having babies, and there is a younger, hungrier group of performers out there.  I'm content with just watching.  This isn't to say I won't pick up a hoop or a stave and spin it, but for now, I want a break.  Maybe a permanent one.

In any case, if you haven't seen them, here's the public gallery on FB of my pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=524609&id=681175190&l=551ef32f20

Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Love your photos, and this bittersweet post. Maybe if I go next year, we can spectate together! xox

    ReplyDelete