Two couples in their sixties find they are tourists when it comes to Burning Man, but have a good time.
Reading this blog should give a pretty good idea of what it is like attending Burning Man as an observer, but not as a 100% participant. We people raised in the 50s come with too much baggage for that.
This is not just a party, there are meetings to attend. Burning Man published a 77 page “what where when” booklet for participants, a sample page shown here.
What is Burning Man?
The first was on Baker Beach in San Francisco in 1986 with maybe 20 people present. It apparently arose rather spontaneously and included the burning of a small wooden man, with no consistent interpretation of what this meant. But everybody had a good time and it grew over the years and is now held annually in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
Over about a month the 3848’ elevation Black Rock dry lake is transformed into a village for 50,000. At the conclusion the area is returned as nearly as possible to its original state, and life goes on. The physical and mental environment is designed to encourage radical self-expression with few (other than legal) restraints. Commercialism is not allowed – only ice, hot coffee or tea, and cold drinks (excluding water) can be purchased.
We present our credentials...I attended Burning Man five years ago with my brother John. We returned in this year (2008) with Carmen (John’s spouse) and Marcia (my spouse, nicknamed Moonbeam by one of our WBCCI friends), and John’s son Freeman. The four of us are in our sixties and live in the Oakland and Sacramento areas of California. Freeman is in his mid-thirties. He has attended Burning Man at least eight or nine times, and during several of those years built a major theme camp. Freeman lives and works where ever he pleases, which currently is in India.
This blog is primarily from Cam’s perspective, one of those guys that generally stands at the edge of a group watching others have all the fun. Freeman is our link to Burning Man. The photos were taken mostly by Cam, Carmen and Freeman.What is Burning Man really about?
Dunno, but I think for most people it comes down to having a good time free from the social restraints of regular life. For a more reverential interpretation and much more detail, immerse yourself in the official Burning Man website at www.burningman.org. They too don't entirely know - they just don’t admit it.
2008 theme: The American Dream
But this was no Tournament of Roses parade.
Other blogs by the same author:
Road to Burning Man 2008
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