I went to Burning Man, ask me anything.

[ghostsinthemachine]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4G7kcmTsVrphyZ8Q8
The Temple at Burning Man, Galaxia. The most amazing building I've ever seen. The most sacred place I've ever entered. During the cancer walk, as we neared the Temple, I burst out in tears, as did many with me. We were among the first inside (the wind kept the construction delayed) yet you could feel the energy. The temple was already full with people saying last goodbyes to friends, family, pets etc. There was no ceremony, like everything at BMan, you made your own ceremony. I knew that I would have to return later. I did, on Saturday and by then the energy was so intense, I've never felt anything like it. People praying, meditation, playing ambient guitar. Hugs, tears. Some tributes were simple others spectacular. People were so reverent and respectful here. A I wrote my tributes strangers came up to me and hugged me as I cried in memory of my friends. And of myself. I thought about my future and how I am coming back here, one way or another, next year and how I would like that to be.
Quite simply the most spiritual moment of my life. It was as if all those I've lost were there with me, I could feel their presence. Seeing such a gorgeous structure burn was cleansing in so many ways. 100K people surrounding it, art cars etc, but for an hour while the Temple burned, no one said a word.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vV5bkDEJxpHMSL3aA

See you in the Cosmos.

[Croney]

1. My niece went. Is your link ok?

Didn't work for me. I saw her pictures and it looked like a great time was had by all.

[lunasun]

2. Thanks for the insight I have never gone but have seen sets, paper structures, effigies burn etc

with large crowds but not 100K! That hour of burn sounds so intense I bet you are glad you went

[ghostsinthemachine]

3. Transformational...

Nothing like it. I went there because of Burning Wish, a charity that send cancer patients to The Burn. Free. 2 tickets, car pass and some had cabins and RVs to stay in. I wanted the full experience. It got dusty, but it was cool. Kind of set a surreal tableaux. Our camp was nice. I got rides in art cars, a couple docent led tours of the Playa and the art. I couldn't do that on my bike, but I got a lot better on it as it went on. The people were amazing. Mad Max? No. HAPPY MAX, is more like it. I was walking down about halfway down from the Man, holding on to the side wall to insure my safety and some girl, dreads and ultimate burner wear, ran down to see if I needed help. Another time I was at Center Camp and I went to find my bike and someone put a seat cover on every bike there. Hundreds of them.

[lunasun]

5. Any idea of the cost? Weather Hot? & Foods? I imagine good foods or is it byoe?

[ghostsinthemachine]

8. Not cheap but...

490 for regular tickets. Not bad when I look at my upper reserved Elton John tickets (320 plus fees).

No food for sale, nothing except ice coffee and tea for sale. I ate in camp, but other camps had huge feasts. We carried a pig roaster for another camp and they hauled it out to the remains of the Man and roasted a pig over the embers. People fed you, very communal in most respects. Cooking is tough, so you try not to do much because of the leave no trace rules for grey water disposal. There's a method to it.
I came home with most of my food and water.
It only hit the mid 90s, and got white out windy a couple of times. I had masks and goggles so I was ready for it. When you leave camp you take that stuff with you along with single ply TP, handi wipes and a full water bottle or two.
Im 63, have terminal cancer and handled it fine.

[lunasun]

12. 490 but you could be there for a week for that right? How long was your stay ? Right concert tickets

can go in the hundreds, plays etc too!

[ghostsinthemachine]

19. I was there Wed thru Tursday

Leaving on Monday, out of the question. 10 hours of "traffic pulsing". They pulse the cars one mile, every hour. It is ten miles to pavement. We stayed on Monday and it was the worst wind/dust storm we had. I sat in the truck, I couldn't handle it. Was only really bad for about an hour or so. Weird there were still raging parties, even while things were being torn down.

On Tues, we drove right out, no problem, no pulsing.
There are two radio stations one dedicated to traffic so we kept up.

[Docreed2003]

4. So glad you were able to make the trip!!

No questions...much love!!

[idahoblue]

6. I missed it this year

I will make every effort to never again allow another activity to interfere. I will be there, camping with the Earth Guradians, next year.

[Throck]

7. Burning man is on my bucket list.

[ghostsinthemachine]

9. Some videos

The Art Car, the Mayan Warrior and the Drone swarm. . Cool as fuck

https://vimeo.com/288924455

[Lucinda]

10. Incredible photos.

❤️❤️❤️ Thanks for sharing this with us.

[ProudLib72]

11. Those pics got to me

So it must have been overwhelming in person.

[Solly Mack]

13. K&R

Love the photos. Very happy for you!

[shenmue]

14. Is your ass on fire?

[ghostsinthemachine]

15. Ummm, no

My ass made it just fine.

[Hortensis]

16. Glad it was such a special experience for you,

Ghostinthemachine. That temple was fine. Of course, it always is, but I really like this sculpture. In the cosmos.

[ghostsinthemachine]

17. More video...

https://www.facebook.com/638110894/posts/10211726013974487/

[ghostsinthemachine]

18. Day 1... photos, story

We arrived, after driving from Sacramento, at The Playa about 3 AM. All our plans changed. Mine because once I got a grasp, I knew I needed to be around some help. So we set up camp. The entry, due to the late hour, was easy-peasy. No problem with police either, on the way. Upon entry you are given maps, information sheets and a "schedule" that's a 100 pages big, containing all the scheduled events at Burning Man. Some are daily events, others are one time events in various camps. From all types of activities. Roller derby. I included a couple of pages to give you an idea. Once we got settled, took a nap, ate, I did some exploring. Our neighbors were very nice. Couple of guys from Portland, Joe and Shannon, had an art car I was familiar with, the brain car. Jason was a Sacramento guy and saved our camp space. He also had a sweet homemade trailer with generator which came in very handy. Chris and I had to go to the Cancer Walk at The Man then to The Temple. I rode my bike to The Man but that tired me so I grabbed a ride in a van out to The Temple. Very moving. I realized just how huge everything was. The huge camps along Esplanade. The art was mind blowing. The people just incredible. I was walking down from The Man, holding on to the wall, watching my step and a young woman rushed down to ask if I needed help. Unreal. That scenario repeated itself over and over again.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JhW8s3q7LbBoif9Q7 first day photos.

[Dorian Gray]

20. Why?

[ghostsinthemachine]

21. Why, what?

Gotta be a bit more specific...

[ghostsinthemachine]

24. Why did I go?

More like how is it that Ive never gone before?. Most of my friends have gone and are regular attendees. Ive always needed a rock and roll thing and am usually seeing some band or another on this weekend. But not this year, that kind of travel (to CO for Phish) is too much for me.
I had no intention of going to BMan either, 2 weeks before it started. An acquaintance/friend messaged me "Do you want to go to Burning Man?". I thought he was trying to sell me his ticket but he told me he would get me, and a friend in. Twenty minutes later, I am getting messages from Aaron (Slim). He is the director of the Burning Wish foundation, a new BMan charity that sees that terminally Ill people go to The Burn. I filled out the forms and next thing you know, I'm approved. Aaron was doing all this from the Playa, where he is a cew leader on building the man. (crews go out weeks early and stay weeks later than the event).

I manged to get it all together in no time. Found a camp with friends, got a caregiver and secured a ride as well as gathered all my supplies I thought I might need.
I brought way too much food and water. Temps in the 90s, so I will take the basic gallon and a half per day recommendation, but everywhere I went people fed and liquored me. Roast pig, roasted over the coals of the Man. Taco night. Foods kind of a hassle, cooking and cleaning so I did as little of that as I could.

I rode me bike around mostly. You always carried certain items: toilet paper (single ply only) handi wipes (to keep down there fresh) a water bottle, a cup (For the bars) a schedule, dust mask, goggles, scarf, headlamp and make sure your bike has a lot of lights. Once, I parked down by Center Camp, the only place to spend money with ice,coffee and teas being the only things sold at BMan. When I returned, someone had put bicycle seat covers (Mine is Hello Kitty) on every bike in the racks. That's hundreds of bikes. That kind of thing happened everywhere, people were amazing. Some say Mad Max and I say no, Super Happy Max is more like it. Happy shiny people. People gave all kinds of stuff away. I happened to have a bunch of small fish pendants I used for a non profit and I gifted those. I got rides to the art and on out to the various burns, every night. Unbelievable, driving around the Playa, dancing on the top of a rolling whorehouse with 50 people that had two open bars. Everything lights up at night. And blows up. Cars spewing fire hundreds of feet into the air. Lights like Ive never seen. The art all lit up at night. Cool in the daytime, at night it was magnificent. A moon hovered over everything. a 75 foor electric robot walked the playa (controlled by virtual reality).

So anyways that's why I went and, HOPEFULLY, I will go next year. And why I wish I had gone many years ago. It ws the most amazing thing Ive ever done, the best event I've ever attended and it was very transformational. Nobody has the same time, you can do anything. Anything.

[GulfCoast66]

22. I'd rather spend a week laying ant infested sod.

But to each their own.

Glad you enjoyed it and glad we still have the freedom to do things I think are nuts.

[Blue_true]

25. Why do you SOD instead of seed?

I prefer seeding in intervals. Takes longer, but if done right, the results are spectacular.

[GulfCoast66]

26. Can't seed St. Augustine.

And Bahia is very challenging.

We don’t have the easy grasses like up north.

[Blue_true]

27. Bahia is challenging, but if a person follows a plan of overseeding

With sand and seed, after some work, a solid carpet of the grass forms. I like it because it seems to me to be adaptable to more areas of a yard than St. Agustine and I think when maintained right, it makes a prettier lawn. But most people in Florida seem to prefer St. Agustine.
You are right though, northern grasses like Bent grass are easier to grow as long as the balance of sun and shade is right. Bent is not good in high heat.

[Texasgal]

23. Amazing!

I wish to go this next year. It's a bucket list thing or me.

Thank you for sharing your story!

[ghostsinthemachine]

28. This sucks...

https://www.rgj.com/story/life/arts/burning-man/2018/09/14/747-airplane-burning-man-still-sitting-black-rock-desert/1304974002/

[ghostsinthemachine]

36. The airplane is being moved. interesting story.

This was pretty cool. I never got close but it was swinging over there. I never saw it rolling but where it was looked like thousands were partying there.

?quality=80&w=635

https://observer.com/2018/09/burning-man-art-car-boeing-747-to-be-removed/

[ghostsinthemachine]

29. my friend wrote this. I wish I. Could express my thoughts as well..

As an artist, Burningman is one of the places I feel most free, happy and at home. Here, my age, income, gender, identity do not matter. Here, I can run around freely without boundaries or borders inside or out, I can see and experience art, dance, ride my bike, an art car, be fluid, be in the moment, have no sense of time, experience magic, be quiet or loud, enjoy serendipitous moments, be naked, care for others, be a leader, be a reverend, doctor, auntie, shaman, sage, spirit guide, simple or complex human, funny, silly, wild, passionate, I can build and make things, hug and high five, feel no shame or judgement, be a member of multiple tribes, experience new cultures and ways that are different from mine, fall in and out of love, struggle, be tired, cry alone or with friends, feel fear, mortality, life, watch the sunrise, sunset, dance in a dust storm or hunker down in a tent, sing, speak from the heart, sit by a fire, tell stories, listen, tell someone what I really think, climb structures... so many things... I am my authentic self. I have so much gratitude for my family and friends and this beautiful life I’ve been gifted. I’m grateful for the wonderful people and experiences that I’ve been given and can create for others. Life is truly magical, special, wonderful. 💕🌈 so grateful for this journey...

[LAS14]

30. Thanks for the vivid description, and to the repliers for their...

... descriptions. I've always wondered just what Burning Man was. Now I think I have a good idea.

Thanks again,
LAS

[ghostsinthemachine]

31. Art cars at DMV (Dept of Mutant Vehicles)

https://www.rgj.com/videos/life/2018/09/13/video-art-cars-burning-man-2018/1296747002/

I never saw most of these. The art cars were mind blowing. Such imagination, tech know how, $$$, and workmanship. I saw lighting effects unlike anything I ever saw. I never saw Kindergarten Kamps tugboat either. I saw it in auburn pre Man and I couldn't believe how well built it was. Great design. Mark Mushkin. All the guys here at the ranch are thinking about making one. We got cars all over the place. Trailers too, and the guys are all mechanical, and we have a full on metal shop and plenty of space and loads of metal stuff... Now. What design? Where do I buy lights like the LED snail?

[Blue_Tires]

32. Were there nekkid ladies without their clothes on, or what?

[ghostsinthemachine]

33. PLENTY OF WEE WEES, PEE PEES, HOO-HAS.. YOUNG AND OLD..

No photos though, I tried to respect everyone's privacy and ability to freak freely without someone taking a photo. But yeah nudity is commonplace. The sexiest place I've ever been.

[ghostsinthemachine]

34. Excellent video from a first timer

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=CYS5gfW6FcA

[ghostsinthemachine]

35. 2nd day, the dusty day....

2nd day, Thursday. Wind event. Dead camera battery event. Brain car ride. (I never took photos of it either!) Did some cruising around, then toured the Playa in a golf cart with a brain on top. Flex pipe and green paint. This car used to be in Nevada City, but now lives in Portland. Windy as shit. But I kind of dug it, it added a surreal tableaux to the art. My camera died and the wind just made hunkering down a good idea. Later that night I saw something was cool in the schedule so I headed there. I had to stay close to my neighborhood, so my choices were limited. I still wasn't sure of the layout or how long the blocks were. The wind really started to pick up and the dust overwhelming. So bad, I ducked behind a huge RV and waited for it to subside. When it did people came out of a tent and invited me in, to watch The Marx Brothers! I passed I wanted to head to Grateful Floyd camp where they were screening Pink Floyd. Delicate Sound Of Thunder, I think. The first tour sans Roger, I know that. They had mixed drinks, (I had a margarita) kegs of beer (Denogginizer!) and some munchie stuff. Lots of chairs too. Before I left camp, I did some schrooms. Was great. Huge screen, concert sound and a raging party. The wind died down, and then the party raged. They also played a Tom Petty show and Man, that guy was a kick ass rock and roller. (As the host said). After, I rode around and checked things out. Amazing camps. Huge discos. I was getting into the groove. I also was hoping that the wind and dust thing was over for the duration.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/viP9UjsK6WfnYfaK7

[ghostsinthemachine]

37. Art tour, great Train Wreck....

Thanks to MOBILITY CAMP, David and I were treated to a docent led art tour via art cars..... They had four cars for everyone who needed mobility to discover the art. Our docent, G-Spot, was from Reno and told great stories and explained the art, how it was created, the artists or group that created it. The cars for the ride were cool, we were on the green faced car. On the piano bar car, at night the keys lit up. It was great to be able to be up in the air. So cool they do this.

The dinosaurs were pretty incredible, the colors were made of teeny beads.

We went to Center Camp afterwards and saw the cancer nurse speak. Also the inventor of the HexiYurt. Told us about how he can change the refugee paradigm, but has been sabotaged numerous times. He was very interesting. Look up Hexayurt and check it out. The best thing was when I came out to my bike someone put a seat cover on it! All of the bikes in the rack. Hundreds of them. Mine was kitty cats cuz my bike was a girls cruiser.

the giant marionettes were pretty amazing. They walked all over the Playa, performing all over. They even had wardrobe changes and a couple of "acts".Arielists, dancers on the tables and great lighting.

There was a night time burn, the Great Train Wreck where teams from Reno and Sacramento built train (authentic too) out of wood then crashed them together. Pretty cool. Anyways, check the photos.
https://photos.google.com

[ghostsinthemachine]

38. More on THE TEMPLE....

FROM A FRIEND

The external beauty of the temple is only part of the story - there is also so much beauty in what happens inside of it. One cannot exist without the other. The acts of courage and strength both in the tenacious creativity of the build and in people opening their hearts is a testament to the human spirit.

I wrote a little something describing a profound experience I had this year at the temple. It is a story Ive heard many times - one person grieving allowing others to do the same. We are all connected.

I saw her there in the temple. A beautiful woman sitting on a blue cloth on the dusty desert ground. When she started to sob it stopped me in my tracks as her cries struck the very center of my heart. Two men rushed to her side and placed their hands on her shoulders. I wasn’t sure if they knew her but their tenderness toward her moved me to tears. I was so touched seeing how they held the space around her with gentleness and kindness. They didn’t try to calm her to make her stop crying, instead they held steady as the tides of her grief shook her being. Then two women approached and laid their hands on her back. And with the same steadiness held her in a space of compassion and love. One of the men had a guitar and started to softly play for her and that sweet music laced itself around her and her sadness. Her cries came in waves now slowly getting louder and then quieter ebbing and flowing like the sea. My own pain followed her rhythm as her tears unlocked my grief. I stood there, my eyes hidden behind my sunglasses, tears streaming down my face and with each person coming to comfort her more of my own tears joined hers. I found myself in such gratitude for this woman, for the people comforting her and for this sacred temple where so much love resides. To me and many others the temple is the most important and precious place at Burning Man because of the love and healing rippling out from one person to the next. The temple is the heart of all of us.