Burning Man 2012 - The Burn that almost wasn't

Last year, Burning Man sold out for the first time, and with that event, the event changed.  Suddenly, there was a chance that you couldn't go to Burning man, even if you wanted to, because there was a scarcity of tickets. In response to that event, this year's tickets for Burning Man were done differently. It was supposed to be fair, with a lottery system, allowing you to only buy a limited number of tickets. The problem is, that in a scarcity based economy, scalpers thrive. They cheat professionally, so they are very good at it. In contrast, the good people of the Burning Man Community obeyed the rules, and so it is that by some estimates over half of the available tickets went to the scalpers, leaving the other would be burners stunned and confused about how they didn't get tickets... What about the community? What about the theme camps that can't fill their ranks? Will it just be a bunch of rich yuppie frat kids? WHAT ABOUT BURNING MAN??? 

We know a number of Burners. Most of them didn't get tickets.We didn't get tickets. So, we started looking on ebay, and found the $300 tickets going for upwards of $3,000.  Not only were we not willing to pay that much for tickets, but we also weren't interested in helping out scalpers.  Thus it was, that we decided that we weren't going to Burning Man this year...  Several of our friends that had gotten tickets, were so disappointed with how things were going, they sold theirs. 

Time goes by, Barbara has a job commuting to the bay area, it's the Sunday Night that Burning man is starting. We've heard rumors that there are a few tickets floating around that aren't scalpers. Barbara is frustrated with her job and the recent corporate take over. She wants a vacation.  Since I wasn't going to Burning man, I had already used up much of my vacation time - only had a few days.  Delilah wanted to visit her cousins in Oregon, even if we weren't going to Burning Man, so she was already set up to fly up there... We started talking out loud. It may have sounded a bit like an argument, but it was more about momentum, and overcoming that which was, for that which could be... We decided that we would try to make it happen... 

So, Monday, we start calling around about tickets, get cash in hand, start e-mailing about who can watch Delilah after she flys back from Oregon on Friday - we find that her friend Sophie's family would be able to watch D Friday till we return the following Monday.  Barbara finds some tickets - one in Temecula, and another in Encinitas, and hops in the car to buy them, as I start furiously throwing boxes into the RV, filling the water tank, loading some food, a bucket of clothes, the essentials, but without the planning for any of the luxuries - none of the extra water for daily quick showers, just enough to drink and clean, no light sticks, no playa gifts (other than the Thom Kha Guy soup which I took fixings for).  By midnight, it was as loaded as it could be on such short notice, and I had to go to bed, since we were waking up at 5AM to take Delilah and Barbara to their separate flights in the morning... 

Tuesday, 5AM. Up, last minute checks - boarding pass and ID, added some extra laundry to D's bag for the extra days, off to the Airport - Barbara escorts D to her flight, then takes her own flight to SFO.  I head home and finish off the RV loading, and drive the RV to work. Dad calls, computer problems.  Crap. Have to stop by and check out his computer. Ok, leave work even earlier 1PM, stop by dads, his cable TV and cable modem are both out. Work with cable guys for an hour, sure enough, it's a real problem - cable guys coming tomorrow, I'm outa here... North, hit a WalMart for oil change (woops - a bit overdue on that) and supplies, dinner then back on the road - sucking down energy drinks, got to Coalinga about 2AM and sleep in a rest stop. 

Wednesday, 7AM. Up again, talk with Barbara on phone, plans have changed - trying for noon pickup in SFO instead of east bay... On the road again, after a GPS debacle, backup on the Bay Bridge, and some political intrigue at her work, I rescue Barbara from Agesong, and we're on the road to Burning Man... Barbara actually drives the RV once were in line, as I organize and make munchies. Line only takes 3 hours. It's Wednesday night. A few days ago, we weren't going.  Now we're here.  Yes, it's a shorter trip this year. Yes, we're traveling lighter.  Yes, it's a different experience - more newbies, many of the theme camps are under staffed, a few have folded. But, we're here. 

Every year, Burning Man is different. It is measured in disconnected moments, not in linear events. Instants that impress a mark on you - most positive, some hard, many remarkable.  So, how did it compare? It's apples and oranges.  It was amazing - but in a different way from other years. It seemed both smaller and bigger. More personal and more distant. Things kept vanishing - sometimes they'd come back, other times never seen again.  But always, something else was there, some other image, moment, person, art, image, thoughts.

We've decided that in the future, we shouldn't bother to try to fool our selves that we aren't going.  We just need to go.  Hopefully the ticket debacle will be resolved, and next year, we'll just buy tickets on the first round, and now that we are going, and it will be different, just like every year. Different - Just like this year. 

View of the Temple from the Burning Man Dias

This years theme was Fertility, so there were signs of virility scattered around

Barbara and Joe, our part time camp mate

One of a number of wind storms. There were "more, lighter" storms this year, few white outs, but almost always a persistent dust blowing. 

I actually used the umbrella to propel the bike ala wind surfing for a while

Art Project with The Man in the distance

A "city" built in the sand 

Barbara enjoying the view

A few examples of night life - a torus made of LED rings, a spinning wheel of fire, and the full moon on the playa

Barbara resting on an art structure, harkoning to a spiders egg sack, made of zip ties and glowing balls... 

And with the shorter trip, I took fewer photos - but I was there. And it was good. Heck, it was great.