Dust Devil

Rescue Mission Members

Umbrella & Cloud

The Playa, the area upon which the city is erected is a very alkaline, dried up lake.  It is a place with nothing-- no plants, no water.  You live with excessive scalding heat, brown hills, dust, dust storms, and dust devils.  In stark contrast, the city of 30-35 thousand that is  built from nothing  has everything.  Burning Man is a full blown oxymoron.

My first day was overwhelming. It is a grand soup of porn, side show, circus, Halloween, science fair,  art festival, nude beach—everything! How do I find words for something that so defies description? There was simply too much to take in.

Finding my way around at the beginning was difficult even though the area was organized according to the number positions of a clock and the order of the planets. If you are like me, and have trouble remembering the order of the planets, Burning Man has its own titillating mnemonic: Most Vicar’s Erections May Justifiably Shock Unless No Parishioners Stare. 

I set up camp at Saturn and 5:45 with veteran Burners I had met from the Bay Area.  The first thing to do is set up shade as the heat can be blistering, and was.  The communal camp consisted of a kitchen and dining area, grey water evaporation pool, and solar shower. I had my VW van and a shelter for shade.    I was warned before hand to take goggles and face masks to manage the dust which was at times unrelenting. 

The bicycle is the best mode of transportation, and people go all out in their decoration and/or alteration efforts.  A word of warning though, if you go to BM and you are male—don’t be a Shirtcocker.  What is a Shirtcocker?  A guy that is wearing a shirt but no bottoms, a fashion faux pas according to the Seattle and Vancouver Burner communities, and ridiculous looking on a bike. The first Shirtcockers I saw had me giggling most of the day.  Imagine that little bundle resting and jiggling on a bicycle seat.

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