Silver Burners—Just Get Us There!

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Camping Adventures @ Burningman

Teri and I are decompressing in a hotel room in Reno before we head back to Michigan on a red-eye flight. We are exhausted, but continue to reminisce and ruminate over our adventures. Getting there was filled with nervous energy and anxiety, but leaving was filled with unexpected emotion and a sadness that is still unexplainable.

Half the fun was sharing the trip with a friend in my general age group. She is a mere 63 with an old wise soul. My wait for her on Monday night turned into her nightmare flights, which meant I left on the Burner bus on Tuesday as planned. Meanwhile, she trooped through flight delays, a control tower fire in Chicago, hotel stays and a rebooking on a new airline with the crew timing out. Agony.

I hopped aboard the Burner bus at Reno airport and seated myself next to a Cuban ballerina virgin-burner with ambitions of medicine as a career. I made a friend in the airport from Chile with a Navy background and he and I were the last ones off the bus. I hopped aboard a shuttle to Camp “Nailed It”. @ 4:45 and Jove in the horseshoe-shaped city, surprising my daughter and hubby by arriving early. Their camp was in full party mode with their “Office Space” party. (Watch the movie!) Burners loved smashing the copy machine with a baseball bat, discussing their pieces of flair, which was the camp gift.

Our shiftpod was totally set up with our beds already made, the swamp cooler set up to cool our hot bodies and a “love box” filled with wipes, nasal spray, energy bars, flashlights, bike locks and necessities for our survival.

Twelve camp mates passed out love, hugs and adult beverages with ice before a great dinner. The huge shade structure, complete with bar, rugs, lights, chairs and inflatable furniture would turn out to be our favorite hangout for the week.

A three-wheeled bike with a large basket for the girl with the broken wrist was a lifesaver. I had to re-learn riding a tricycle in order to journey onto the playa with my daughter and hubby, and riding on alkaline dust in blowing conditions was a challenge. I was also blown away with the views and immense vast city that sprawled around me on that first night!

I slept fitfully that first night, alone on my air mattress shivering under three layers on my bed, dressed in long johns and a fur vest. The camp at the corner with their techno party until 4 a.m. never tempted me to dance, but the vibrations jostled my innards as I attempted to sleep in my new environment.

Silver Burners—The Day Before

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Blog, Camping Adventures @ Burningman

It’s getting real. The lobby in Harrah’s is a bizarre mixture of glassy-eyed gamblers drinking and smoking for hours on end and luggage toting burners dragging as much as they can carry. A buff bare-chested male, dressed in a vest, man-kilt, sturdy boots and heavy socks stood proud—carrying a spear like a great white hunter, in the lobby as I passed through. I’ve seen enough YouTube videos to realize this will be normal attire for the week.

My class reunion is over and my classmates are rooting for my experience. My friend Frannie, who has been a few times, brought a beautiful embroidered, salmon colored skirt for me. Others like Chip, who lives in Reno and regaled us with tales of dusty burners returning through Reno looking for showers, questions my sanity. Teri’s and my tickets, guide and camelbacks were dropped off to Chip by daughter Brooke, husband Gage and camp organizer Sarah as they drove their truck through on their way to the Playa, so we are ready for our Burner Bus ride into the desert.

On the streets, strangely packed vehicles pass through, loaded down with camping supplies and bikes. I have seen two parked on the street today that would rival trucks seen in old t.v. shows“Green Acres” and “The Beverley Hillbillies”. I picture them as a modern day wagon train with food, water, bedding, tents, pots and pans, etc, hanging like charms on a rope bracelet, hoping not to lose anything onthetrail.

My little buddy arrives tomorrow and she is wishing she had come a day earlier, but both of us decided how much heat and excitement we could handle, which dictated our choice. We have been texting weather reports and last minute messages like teenagers and are thrilled to see it will only be in the high 90’s during the day and 60’s at night with no humidity!

My daughter Dawn will meet us there Wednesday.  She is thrilled to leave her two toddlers behind and enjoy the experience with me. ”I wish I was in the best shape of my life instead of the worst”, I moaned to her. ”Mom, you will be a rockstar by just being there.”  I want to believe this. Stay tuned!

Silver Burners-Gifting

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Blog, Camping Adventures @ Burningman

One of the ten principles of Burningman is “gifting”, which is a tough call when you are flying in from a distance and have already packed two suitcases and shipped most of your supplies to San Francisco. What will be meaningful or fun without leaving a paper trail, MOOP (matter out of place on the desert floor) or fit back in someone’s belongings to return home? The gifting is unconditional and there are no strings attached, but it cannot be large under my circumstances.

I love the idea of everyone I meet being a piece to my puzzle and I would like to believe I might, albeit unknowingly, carry a piece to theirs. The idea that there are thousands of unknown souls wandering around at Burningman with stories and interesting lives I have not heard is exciting. My favorite poem in the world by Harold Kushner said it best.

“Some seem to be born with a nearly completed puzzle.

And so it goes.

Souls going this way and that

Trying to assemble the myriad parts.

But know this. No one has within themselves

All the pieces to their puzzle.

Like before the days when they used to seal

jigsaw puzzles in cellophane. Insuring that

all the pieces were there.

Everyone carries with them at least one and probably

Many pieces to someone else’s puzzle.

Sometimes they know it.

Sometimes they don’t.

And when you present your piece

Which is worthless to you.

To another, whether you know it or not,

Whether they know it or not,

You are a messenger from the Most High”.

Gerald Kushner “Honey From The Rock”

One year I read about someone doing a project with journals mailed all over the world, hoping they would return. With that thought in mind, I am bringing four moleskin journals with the title on the cover, “What Brings You To Burningman? I plan to distribute them every day and ask for them to go into the Playa and return to me with insights. Hopefully, I will be able to sit with some of the people I meet and hear their stories in person. I have my card taped inside with the request for them to be filled and returned and will remain optimistic that some will return. It is a gift, but to myself. It remains to be seen whether I will be a gift to them!

Along the same lines of gifting, despite the fact these are gifts to me, I have some treasures from friends and family tucked in my belongings. The charm necklace includes a jingle bell my Dad used to wear as Santa when i was a child; one of his dog tags from the Army; my Mom’s silver cross; an Irish charm given to me from a Ya-Ya symbolizing friendship and  my husband’s engraved key chain I purchased for his college graduation.

One of my Ya-Ya’s, Molly, who was the best friend of my life and like a sister, passed away close to ten years ago. I took beads, charms, ribbons, and made a set of prayer beads to  hold during her worst times. Her children returned them to me and they will be around my neck, with additions from friends and family included. My mother-in-law gave me a piece of her wedding headress to weave in. I feel like I am bringing my friends and family with me.

My twin gave me a fur vest; my sister Meg knit a fun hat and my friend Lydia crocheted a necklace. A Colorado mother/daughter team created beautiful jewelry for my night-time outfits. (Sascha was a Maqua camper!) This trip is more than me disappearing into the dusty desert, it is a spiritual journey. Other friends gave me wild jewelry, items they thought I would need that are practical, and although I resist having any expectations, I believe this trip will change me in some way. Stay tuned!

 

 

Silver Burners/Disappointments

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Blog

Let’s just get all the anxieties out of the way before we leave. Teri worries her late flight will be too late and I worry my (previously broken) back won’t survive the mattress, so i get shots in my back. We peruse our lists. Have we forgotten anything? Have we packed too much? We perseverate until our rational thinking returns and promise to leave the worries like dust on the Playa floor.

I was not prepared to break my wrist weeks before my trip. A flip-flop trip up the stairs broke five bones, one which was visible, and landed me in surgery. The cast came off today and a black Gothic laced-up brace, which will be a necessary accessory to my Steampunk outfit, was fitted in place.

Dr. M skirted my only tattoo nicely, leaving a vertical scar on one side and a mess of stitches were the bone pierced the skin. I will be a good girl with my exercises, but try not to visualize how i’m going to tie, lace, button, pull up and pull down without assistance from daughters and tent mate.

I secured a doctor’s note for riding any available handicap transport, but a blog came through today from my twin’s friend that reiterated walking was the best mode of transport. Riding bikes sends you flying past too fast, missing out on interesting experiences and new people that you won’t miss on a good walkabout. Maybe my journey will be slower and maybe it was meant to be! Stay tuned!

Silver Burners-We Have Been Placed!

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Blog, Camping Adventures @ Burningman, Maqua After Camp

“We have been placed!!! 4:45 and Jove. Co grata everyone. And they have us more space – 150×50 feet,” wrote our camp leader Sara, who has been to Burningman multiple times and appreciates the extra space in this city in the Black Rock Desert. Our camp sits on the outer rim of the horseshoe and consists of seven miles of named streets. Our camp-mates are on a Facebook page with all the camps in that sector, so it has been fun to look at the activities that will be offered.

The 2019 Metamorphoses theme selected the following names for their streets:

  • Esplanade
  • Andromeda
  • Bacchus
  • Cupid
  • Diana
  • Echo
  • Fortuna
  • Ganymede
  • Hyacinth
  • Icarus
  • Jove
  • Kronos
  • Labyrinth

The souls belonging to “Camp Nailed It” will be a group of thirteen from all walks of life, most of whom I have not met. Bubbly, effervescent Sara is the camp organizer and good friend of my eldest daughter and husband, who will be there, as well as my second daughter. Teri and I are excited about getting to know the people in our own camp, as well as those we meet on our journeys every day. Meeting new faces from all over the world excites me most about this adventure!

Most of our fellow camp-mates are from California, so we are on the receiving end of their organizational skills, equipment storage, and distribution. Memos, conference calls and one on one meetings for planning have occurred over the last few months to gather tarps, tents, coolers, furniture, rugs, shade structures, generators, outdoor shower, food, water, and other necessities, which will be trucked into the campsite. Teri and I will miss the set-up and tear-down of “Camp Nailed It”, as we bus in days after the opening day, but have been offered the job as ice-bearers for the camp.

We have been told the only two things that cost money at this event are ice and coffee. No money is exchanged within the confines of Burningman, and the traditional gifting from each camp can vary from a party to make-up, drinks, jewelry, massages, yoga lessons, TED talks, help with a flat tire, or a shoulder to cry on. In our own camp, two people will be dealing with death and grieving with those who need to discuss these issues. (We both know we will have some eye-opening experiences in relation to walks of life that may not be familiar to us.)

As the days get closer and I picture Teri and I either walking or biking around the Playa, I wonder to myself– how do we choose where to stop? How much will we actually be able to take in? Will we be able to stay awake long enough each night to enjoy the city alive with lights or will the heat wilt us like old flowers? Will the vibrations from the music camps seep through our bodies as we try to nap to keep up? Will we really get to the point that showers will seem pointless and hair don’t care attitude is firmly in place? The answer to these burning questions remain. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

Silver Burners

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Blog, Camping Adventures @ Burningman, Maqua After Camp

We have been like little giggling schoolgirls ever since we began our plans to go to Burningman (google www.Burningman.org). Two gray-haired virgin burners with a penchant for costumes and design, watching every video we can possibly watch; reading all the “Jackrabbit Speaks” newsletters that arrive in our e-mail boxes; rabidly perusing Pinterest for ideas on new outfits and loading up our Amazon carts with the necessary camping items.

Teri and I are only going for six days. On a good day, we experience our own personal summers far too often and worry about the 100-degree heat, the porta-johns and the lack of showers. The upside of this adventure, we optimistically voice, are the cool nights, people watching, art installations, and dancing like ravers in our creative costumes.

I met this spikey, silver-haired bundle of 64-year-old energy in Florida and we became fast friends and walking partners. Her passionate career involves advocacy for women and children, but she loves to create costumes and dresses from bits and pieces, baubles and leftovers, especially for her grandchildren. Her loquacious 70-year old friend happens to have a background in fashion design and illustration, a love for mentoring children and is also a graying grandmother.

When I told her I was gifted a ticket to Burningman for my birthday by my eldest daughter and husband, she was so excited for my bucket list item to be crossed off! Come with me, I urged, and it took one minute for her to agree to this adventure with me. What could be better than a partner in the same age range to grope around the dusty Playa?

My trip to see my kids in San Francisco was the first leg of costume excitement, as I scoured Haight Ashbury shops looking for the right coat for the nights of cool air in the desert. I found a floor-length faux fur coat and a short pink fur for Teri. I waxed nostalgic at the fashions that were featured in the vintage shops, which I just sold from my 60’s and 70’s days in England.

 

My friend and I have purged our closets of all things that can be re-purposed and created butterfly costumes, Steampunk couture, denim designs, tutus and jewelry with ribbons. Daytime outfits will be anything that keeps us cool—linen and cotton, bathing suits with sarongs, and gauzy harem pants. The jewelry-making with beads and ribbons have been sessions of silly.

When I tell you we have lost sleep planning, it is due to a mixture of fear and elation. We walked for weeks discussing what we might experience. Will we be able to stand the heat? What about our personal hygiene? My son-in-law and daughter are the expert Burningman campers, hauling in all our food, water, tents, and supplies. They borrowed a shift-pod and rebuilt a portable air conditioning unit and will set up camp before we even arrive. Our duties include greeting people and fetching ice. We know we will be well-taken care of from many angles, but also know we must be self-reliant.

We have shipped our costumes, boots, and items in plastic bags to avoid the dust. We are ordering our last minute supplies. We feel ready, but we have no expectations. We will board the Burner Bus in Reno, Nevada on August 26 and return different women on our trip back. We will shuttle back to our hotel, probably take shower after shower to remove a week of alkaline dust and fly home. Stay tuned!