No pianos were harmed in our burn.
The theme this year was "The Door to Otter Space!" The effigy was a structure representing the theme. It consisted of a wood structure measuring 16' wide X 16' tall X 4' deep. I had a couple old doors that were used as entry/exit and a couch to sacrifice with the effigy.
I volunteered to help construct the structure and spent 3 Saturdays to that end. I quickly learned that the effigy lead had more imagination than practical sense. He had no idea how to physically construct the structure. I became his best friend over the course of construction. It was built in his back yard.
We constructed it as 2ea - 4' X 4' X 16' towers, joined together with 8' spans. There were 4ea - 4' tall levels broken into chambers (rooms). All would be enclosed by plywood at the property. Ladders were in place to transition between levels.
Once the framing was complete and it was time to transfer the structure 150 miles to the property, no thought was given as to getting the structure from the back yard to the trailer. The lead was simply planning to disassemble the entire structure for reassembly on property. I suggested taking the 8' span apart, leaving the 4' towers for transport. A section of his privacy fence would need to be removed to get these towers to the trailer. I offered a trailer axle to use as a cart to move the towers. That apparently worked as planned. I had a schedule conflict and could not participate in that effort.
I am not a fan of this part of the Burningman philosophy, to create then destroy an object of art. It is wasteful and futile in my mind, but I understand that art has a cost and is unique to each that experience it. So be it.
I also spent considerable time assisting others with their respective roles in the event, often feeling like I was chasing my own tail trying to be helpful for people that clearly had little vision of their objective or path to achieve it.
So, I focused on my own camp, Lagniappe, Free Range Gaming. Our group includes other members of the local burner group so I thought there would be ample help in organizing and participating in the camp.
Weather forecasts were not encouraging. One of the Pacific fronts was to come through Thursday night dropping temperatures significantly, in addition to dire expectations of high winds, heavy rain and HAIL! Not the forecast you want when you are planning to sleep in a nylon tent.
So, my fellow campers had the good sense to lay out Thursday and arrive Friday. I got to build our theme camp alone on Thursday. I did have occasional help from other burners. So, it was an enjoyable day putting things together, clothesfree. Weather on Thursday was nearly 80oF. I also had time to assist the Fire Team fill water cubes and play with their pumps. The "Naked Fireman" was even quicker to a clothesfree state than me, if you can believe that!
The weather hit about 10:30 pm. It began with an awe inspiring lightning show. The entire night sky filled with cloud lightning, nothing appearing to hit the ground. It passed completely over us before any rain fell. Then the rain fell, then the hail, then the wind. Gusts of up to 65mph against my Academy special. As I burrowed into the depths of the layers I had prepared, a constant mist was coming through the nylon, dampening my head and pillow, but the rest of me stayed warm and dry. I was on a cot and everything inside the tent was off the floor, mostly.
I was awakened at 2:36 am, to a loud crash. I could imagine all kinds of upheaval, but when I got the nerve to investigate, everything seemed to be holding it's own. The 30+ year old pavilion and ping pong table were taking the storm in stride. everything I had placed under the table stayed amazingly dry and undisturbed.
The weather on Friday continued to be windy and cold. Definitely weather making clothing desirable. Saturday was a bit colder, but calm. When I crawled out Saturday morning it was under 40oF, but I was comfortable stoking the fire and grinding the beans for coffee, clothesfree. I put on a parka soon after, then wore only a shirt the rest of the day. Except for a volunteer shift (6 hrs) of Rangering.
The effigy burn Saturday night was okay. I wore a coat, planning to cast it aside once the burn initiated. But, this seemed to me anti-climatic
Sunday turned warm enough that I dismantled the camp clothesfree.
The main attraction in our camp was the Ping Pong Pavilion. We also had a lighted dart board, LED volleyball, LED bocce and croquet. I was planning to build a Slip-n-slide into the river, but the cold forecast made this less attractive. Darts and ping pong were played throughout Friday and Saturday nights.
There were too many other camps to describe here, but you can find out more at
https://www.houstonburners.org/featured-theme-camps-fundraisers/. This is the Facebook page with many photos
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unbrokenspring.
Our camp was across the path from a 'sound camp' that played techno and rave music late into the night. This was my greatest miscalculation. A mistake I will not repeat.
The community was wonderful. Genuine people doing what they feel reflects their inner selves. Too many were significantly impaired, but that didn't distract me.
One guy from Albuquerque brought a trailer constructed as a beetle. The wings would raise exposing a bed of wheatgrass. He would offer scissors for participants to cut a bunch of grass then put them into his chest mounted juicer to produce "Betelgeuse". He is a metal fabricator/artist, who also brought a vertical rotisserie which was used to roast hot dogs, sausage, vegetables, etc.
He stayed at my place over several days before heading back to Albuquerque on Thursday. I will have to look him up when I make a free ranging trip to NM and AZ in the not too distant future.
~Safebare
