Most days, I live in a very quiet part of Northwestern Nevada, far from unwanted drama of the real world. Just Winterpast, HHH, Me, Wookie, Oliver, and the mustangs. Day after day, the most exciting thing in back yard is an occasional hummingbird or beautiful butterfly. Just the sounds of nature, as the gentle summer breezes rustle the leaves of the cottonwood trees.
And then comes the fourth week in August when the “burners” (those attending “Burning Man”) come to town. Then, all bets are off. Anything and everything can be seen at the local Walmart if you care to sit and watch.
The first thing announcing the arrival of over 80,000 party goers is the placement of huge dumpsters around the perimeter of the Walmart parking lot. Revelers fly in from around the world equipped only with what the carry. Once here, they pump millions of dollars into the local economy while renting RV’s, buying supplies and even brand-new bicycles.
HHH has helped with preparations for this event in past years. Burning man is held on a large desert area called Black Rock Playa, a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan. For eleven months of the year, it’s just empty desert. Come early August, the place is transformed into Black Rock City, complete with its own zip code. HHH spent time working with his long time electrician friend, John Boy, to bring power to this temporary city.
This weekend, the bumper-to-bumper traffic from i80 to Black Rock desert will be as it always is. Last year, some crazed environmentalists chained themselves to a trailer parked sideways across the highway. It didn’t go well for them. Hopefully this year, people will be a little smarter and not make such foolish decisions.
Last year, trouble arrived in the form of a huge monsoonal rain storm. People were stranded out in the desert in very deep mud. Some chose to walk out towards civilization. It was a scary time for those that were stuck.
This afternoon, the winds are expected to pick up due to an upcoming storm. Today, our temperatures will fall about 20 degrees with rain expected. In the Sierra’s above Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass, it’s possible there may be snow. Yes. Snow in August. Strange year.
Although I’d like to have bragging rights for attending such an event, this is a step too far for this 68 year old very conservative woman. I’d love to to say I saw the night lights, naked bike riders, sculptures, and of course, the man himself burn on the last night. Without any way to stay for a week, it’ll be something I’ll observe online, like most other Americans.
HHH and I plan to go over to Walmart later today to watch the outsiders as they come to our little town to prepare. They aren’t hard to pick out. In fact, they often cause locals to stop in our tracks and stare. They will pick our grocery stores clean when they come and again when they leave. Those of us that live here have already stocked up.
Whatever you do today, look at some of the stories and images of Burning Man 2023. Be prepared. Be warned, it’s not for the faint of heart. Stay tuned for the storms of 2024. Let’s pray it doesn’t rain too much this weekend.
More tomorrow.
