A reader writes:
Sorry you didn’t make this year’s Burning Man. It was outstanding in a number of ways: amazing art (especially this year’s crop of art cars), benign weather, the whimsy that ensures that Burners never take themselves too seriously – everything that makes a great burn. Typical of Burner whimsy was a small site showing the history of transportation in Black Rock City, with hilarious commentary on the fictional days of Burning Man’s “early” years stretching back to the 1800s. Did you know there was once a Black Rock underground, which had to be abandoned because so many Burners chose to stay in the cool, dustless comfort of the subway stations rather than coming to the surface to enjoy the event?
On the down side, Burning Man was more crowded then ever, although the effect was mainly evident in bike congestion on major arteries such as the Esplanade and long lines trying to visit the building housing the Man. We’re now trying to morph back from our Playa egos of Perky and Lashes to the default world reality of Alan and Judie. We returned to increased tension in the Middle East and the approaching statute of limitations on wrong-doing resulting in the economic crisis. We’re forced to start caring about such mundanities again, and we don’t particularly want to.
I urge you to find your way to Black Rock City in the near future so you can experience this wondrous event before it devolves into something more commercial and less freeing.
I created a blog a few years ago to encourage people 50 and over to attend Burning Man. You might want to check out the series of reasons that my wife and I have for attending regularly at this later stage of our lives. The frankly erotic atmosphere is certainly one of the benefits, because sex is a life force that has the capacity to keep us young. The annual burn renews our physical relationship, our commitment to our marriage (of nearly 47 years), and our deep love for each other. But it also provides us with a set of youthful Burner friends from whom we gain energy and with whom we share whatever wisdom we have acquired over our nearly 70 years of living.
It’s easy not to go. It’s tough to get ready. But it’s worth the trip at least once in your life.
I will go. But seriously: Perky and Lashes? Not so much.
(Photo by another reader, who captions: “View from The Man – 8/31/13, 12:00, Black Rock City, NV”, just prior to the wooden man going up in flames.)
The Dish 