Saturday morning I had one final shift at SSV as a Temple Guardian, from 8am-noon. I had to drag myself out of bed and get myself moving far earlier than I would have liked, but once I was up and dressed I felt all right. My buddy Ron was a Guardian with me again, plus we had another couple Guardians on duty this time as well, so it was actually a pretty easy and mellow shift. I lovingly awakened and kicked out the people who’d been sleeping in our domes, picked up moop, answered a bunch of questions about our workshop schedule, gave directions to the nearest porta-potties, and had fun welcoming and greeting people. My dear young friend Zoe (whom I’ve known since before she was born) came by to visit at one point...it was her first burn, and it was her birthday that day. It was so great to see her, and to see her so open and loving the Burning Man experience.
After my shift I went back to our Yaboogie pod and changed from my Guardian whites into an afternoon outfit—I didn’t really have to, but I wanted a chance to wear my cool “dragon” vest that I’d made with the leftover scallops from the hanging in the Temple of Renewal. So I wore that to lunch and for a bit afterwards, while hanging around Yaboogie. It was hot and we were tired and feeling lazy, but I did manage to go take apart the Seaglass Guardian bottle sculpture, and pack the bottles into Eileen’s RV, because she was planning on leaving bright and early the next morning.
Saturday is the culmination of the entire Burn, the day (well actually the night) that everything is leading up to. Yes, Sunday has its charms, but it winds up being mostly a work day, and not as communally connected as Saturday is. Saturday is The Big Party, and you can feel the energy shift and the city start to vibrate as the day fades and night comes on.
So as it cooled off, the excitement started building, and everyone started getting ready for the Burn. We dressed in our finest, gathered troops, and finally managed to get everything coalesced (always a challenge with a big group). With Josh and me that night were our Yaboogie buddies Eileen, Naomi, Cory, Pat, Joe, Alexa and Michelle, plus our ex-Yaboogie friend (and my BFF) Anjanette, and Josh’s build buddies Joe, Evan, Mary, Mitch, and Oak (and probably others I’m not remembering). We were all really excited (who isn’t?) and happy to be together for the big event.
Once everyone was assembled and official pictures were taken, we walked out the 9 o’clock road and past the ring of art cars until we found a good spot amidst the thousands and thousands of other Black Rock citizenry. We spread out a blanket or two and sat down and watched the fire dancers (what we could see of them) and the crowd and waited for the burn to start. Eventually, finally, the burn started, and oh yeah, it was a HELL of a burn. Incredible fireworks to ooh and ahh at, a giant explosion, and then fire fire fire, huger and hotter than either of the previous two man burns I’d seen (and those were the biggest fires I’d ever seen). At one point we actually got kind of afraid that we were too close to the burn and might have to move back in a hurry. I remember grabbing my backpack and looking around at my buddies trying to gauge the danger as ash and sparks floated overhead and the crowd murmured and shifted—but the wind held and we were fine.
It was huge and hot and happy and harrowing, and awe-inspiring in the way that only really huge happenings can be. I was really grateful to be surrounded by and sharing this experience with my “core” peeps—that’s one of the most important aspects of the burn for me, the connection and sharing of amazing experiences with others. After the man fell, the crowd began to disperse out to the city-wide party, and our group broke up as people went their separate ways to whatever called them in the city full of opportunities. Josh and Anjanette and I wandered around some together and eventually made our way across the playa to 2 o’clock and Fractal Planet, where we’d said we’d meet up with Mary and Evan (who was doing projections there that night). We toured through their amazing visionary art gallery and played around on their dance floor, where we lost Anjanette to a dance partner and the party. The rest of the night is actually somewhat of a blur, but I do know we stayed out til close to sunrise (but didn’t make it quite all the way...I do regret that I never got any sunrise time during this year’s burn, but oh well, that’s how it goes) and came home happy and replete.