Burners
And we ain't talkin' Bunsen here
My favorite "yep, I'm at Burning Man alright" moment was the Rabbits vs the Carrots. A parade of people
dressed as rabbits came tromping through Center Camp, sporting signs agitating for "rabbit rights" and "eat more carrots" and
"people bad, rabbits good". They were chanting and hollering pro-rabbit slogans. Then they ran afoul of another parade of
people, dressed as carrots--the Million Carrot March, I believe--who were chanting pro-carrot slogans. The two groups got
into a big scuffle in the middle of center camp. Picture a rabbit, wrestled to the ground by a carrot, trying to stab the carrot
in the heart with an actual carrot... it was terrifically surreal.
One great thing about Burning Man is the number of activities available, night and day. The Playa
really only wakes up after dark, but while the sun is up there's still plenty to do. I took swing-dancing classes (and what's
up with east-coast swing and that triple-step silliness? Give me a simple step-step-rock-step any day) and attended lectures;
there were classes in puppet-making, in building fire-powered airborne vehicles, in storytelling; one night I rode a zip-line
150 feet off a three-story building (man, THAT was exhilirating.) And of course, at night the Playa turns into the biggest
rave I've ever seen, especially towards the end of the week; pulse-pounding music and flaring light shows, lasers and flames,
explode across the desert. It makes for a terrific party.
Among the many many groups represented at Burning Man this year there were, of course, religious camps.
Wiccans are practically a given; I felt like a Wicca-specific camp in such a hippie city would be almost redundant. But there
were two others that I was surprised and pleased to see represented: the Unitarian Universalists had a tent, and so did the
Jews! In fact, at 3AM the Jewish Community Center would hold "What does it mean to be Jewish?" lectures for any who cared to
stumble in. I was amused.
As I was walking back to my tent one afternoon, clad in my sensible shorts and t-shirt and hat and yadda,
yadda, yadda, I walked past two hipsterette young girls on bikes who hollered at me, "Hey, playa geek!" I was offended at first--
I mean, of all places to be declared a social outcast, Burning Man?!?--but I got over it. I mean, the name really does
fit! So I've decided to own it and make it mine. I'll bring honor and good standing to that poor downtrodden nomenclature.
("It will be mine! Oh yes." -Wayne's World)