I'm happy you're doing this. The only person I know at all who has been to Burning Man is a somewhat unreliable narrator. Which is to say, I trust and look forward to learning more of your experience!
Secondly, the howls remind me of when during Covid folks in my neighborhood would venture out onto their porches at a specific time and howl in support of healthcare workers. It made me love my little community in a way I hadn't before. Now it seems everyone just wants to berate and assault healthcare workers. What a turn of events.
I remember those howls for the healthcare workers! That was wonderful. I also remember being jealous of the Italians who clapped for their healthcare workers & also always seemed to be sharing wine across balconies as they did it. I guess everyone has their own style.
The Burning Man howls don’t have quite as lofty a goal a supporting healthcare workers maybe, but I gotta say they’re fun.
Oh, and in terms of how we treat healthcare workers now -- even at the time I thought I’d miss some aspects of the pandemic, and it’s true, I do. That sense of coming together as a community -- I don’t think we feel that much usually. Maybe that’s why so many people go to Burning Man.
I'm not the biggest fan of drones, but I don't think it's not art because it's digital and repeatable. The video was beautiful. I'm not sure how it's different than any other camping trip where the focus isn't to hike and observe wildlife. Camping to many is bringing the conveniences of human shelter to a wilder place; Burning Man is that on a large scale. It's rich and very white, but it's glamping in the desert on a huge scale. And who else would camp in the playa for more than a day in passing, otherwise? It's not the same as camping in North American deserts where people have made the land home for at least twenty thousand years.
I'm looking forward to reading all the words you have written about the last few months!
Yeah, I was a little divided about that comment on drones. On the one hand, I really am sorry I didn’t catch a drone show -- I would’ve loved to see the wolf or the whale. On the other hand, there is *something* a little creepy about them? I’m not sure if the algorithms are exactly the source though.
is there anywhere, even in an officially designated wilderness area, where you can hike as far into the interior as you may, and still not look down to find an empty Coors can or a spent rifle shell?
Weirdly, Burning Man is that place. (I mean, assuming you consider a totally empty lake bed a wilderness area.) I’ll get into the 10 principles of Burning Man in a later post but one of them is “leaving no trace” and burners are surprisingly serious about it.
People carry around used altoid tins to ash their cigarettes & joints in because their ashes are MOOP (matter out of place). I had a Home Depot bucket to spit in (among other things) because my grey water was also MOOP. All drinks were free BUT you had to carry your own cup everywhere with you which sometimes led to disaster-- your coffee from the morning getting mixed with some homemade licorice rum in the afternoon for instance. I never saw a beer can anywhere. My last view of my camp was of MakeDo (pronounced McDo), a middle aged nudist, bent fully over, searching the ground for possible MOOP.
If you wanna camp with a bunch of people who are 100% committed to leaving no trace, I cannot recommend Burning Man more highly.
Thanks for the update Hannah! I was wondering what you were up to. Pack those fairy wings and camping showers and label them well. You might need them again.
I'm happy you're doing this. The only person I know at all who has been to Burning Man is a somewhat unreliable narrator. Which is to say, I trust and look forward to learning more of your experience!
Secondly, the howls remind me of when during Covid folks in my neighborhood would venture out onto their porches at a specific time and howl in support of healthcare workers. It made me love my little community in a way I hadn't before. Now it seems everyone just wants to berate and assault healthcare workers. What a turn of events.
I remember those howls for the healthcare workers! That was wonderful. I also remember being jealous of the Italians who clapped for their healthcare workers & also always seemed to be sharing wine across balconies as they did it. I guess everyone has their own style.
The Burning Man howls don’t have quite as lofty a goal a supporting healthcare workers maybe, but I gotta say they’re fun.
Oh, and in terms of how we treat healthcare workers now -- even at the time I thought I’d miss some aspects of the pandemic, and it’s true, I do. That sense of coming together as a community -- I don’t think we feel that much usually. Maybe that’s why so many people go to Burning Man.
I'm not the biggest fan of drones, but I don't think it's not art because it's digital and repeatable. The video was beautiful. I'm not sure how it's different than any other camping trip where the focus isn't to hike and observe wildlife. Camping to many is bringing the conveniences of human shelter to a wilder place; Burning Man is that on a large scale. It's rich and very white, but it's glamping in the desert on a huge scale. And who else would camp in the playa for more than a day in passing, otherwise? It's not the same as camping in North American deserts where people have made the land home for at least twenty thousand years.
I'm looking forward to reading all the words you have written about the last few months!
Yeah, I was a little divided about that comment on drones. On the one hand, I really am sorry I didn’t catch a drone show -- I would’ve loved to see the wolf or the whale. On the other hand, there is *something* a little creepy about them? I’m not sure if the algorithms are exactly the source though.
And so many words, Tom. Just so many.
is there anywhere, even in an officially designated wilderness area, where you can hike as far into the interior as you may, and still not look down to find an empty Coors can or a spent rifle shell?
Weirdly, Burning Man is that place. (I mean, assuming you consider a totally empty lake bed a wilderness area.) I’ll get into the 10 principles of Burning Man in a later post but one of them is “leaving no trace” and burners are surprisingly serious about it.
People carry around used altoid tins to ash their cigarettes & joints in because their ashes are MOOP (matter out of place). I had a Home Depot bucket to spit in (among other things) because my grey water was also MOOP. All drinks were free BUT you had to carry your own cup everywhere with you which sometimes led to disaster-- your coffee from the morning getting mixed with some homemade licorice rum in the afternoon for instance. I never saw a beer can anywhere. My last view of my camp was of MakeDo (pronounced McDo), a middle aged nudist, bent fully over, searching the ground for possible MOOP.
If you wanna camp with a bunch of people who are 100% committed to leaving no trace, I cannot recommend Burning Man more highly.
Thanks for the update Hannah! I was wondering what you were up to. Pack those fairy wings and camping showers and label them well. You might need them again.
Awww, thanks Janet. I feel like fairy wings should come in handy a lot more often in life in general. 🧚