Friday

Friday was a great day.

In the morning, I went out with Natalie and we just biked around.  We'd wanted to check out the neighbourhood and see who and what was around our camp, but we ended up at the man.

We went up into the man (first time I'd seen it with no lineup) and looked at the art inside.  I, again, wished I'd brought my camera as the views from inside were really awesome.

We took the slide down out of the man (yes, you read that right, the slide!) and rode our way back towards home.

We stopped to get ourselves "stamped."  A little stand a guy had set up where you could get a stamp he'd had made stamped on you.  I got one on my arm and one on my back and then he gave me a hug and I was made a liiiiiitle uncomfortable when he told me that the hug had given him a hard on.  I just smiled and nodded, but, well, he was easily sixty years old and had that "don't take candy from the man in the white van" vibe to him, but, well, anyway.  Ahem.

When we got back to camp, we decided that Natalie, Connor and I would go try to do some of the things I'd wanted to check out.  So we made a list!

The list was entitled "vague plan" and had the addresses of five places we were going to try to get to that morning/mid-day.

We headed over to my co-worker's place (which I found IMPOSSIBLE to navigate to, but which Natalie found easily).

On the way there we encountered a random bunch of people giving away cotton candy!  Weirdly enough, I found sweet things overly sweet in the desert so I ate half of mine and gave the rest away.

We found my friend's place, but they weren't there so I left them a gift and a note.

Then we went and got snow cones!  In the desert!  They had a bike that they'd somehow converted so that when you pedalled it, it shaved the ice.  Then you got to choose your own syrup flavour and flavour powder.  I didn't even know there was snow cone powder!!!  It was delicious though, and so nice and refreshing to have ice and a snow cone... in the desert!

As we ate our cones, I talked to one of the guys who lived/volunteered/worked there and told him that this was the one thing I'd promised myself I'd do at Burning Man.  When he heard that he insisted on going and making me a giant, double decker, all flavour snow cone just for me.

How did people just keep being awesome?

We stopped by an "interactive" misting station that misted you with water... mmmmmm... water, and then made our way to another awesome camp that claimed to be able to find you your Soulmate!

We had to fill out long forms and then go through an interview process with the promise that if we returned tomorrow they'd tell us who at Burning Man was our soul mate.

We headed back, it was hot by then and someone had loaned us a stove, so we had a meal that I wasn't particularly able to stuff down, and then we watched the terribly gorgeous dusty mad-max men fixing their art car across from us.

Dreamy sigh.

In the spirit of Burning Man, and wanting to be more like this in life in general, I approached the super hot one and told him that watching them all work had been making my Burning Man.  I gave him one of the scarves I'd knitted to take as gifts and he thanked me (with a hug and kiss on the cheek! EEEE!) and put it on.

Happy dreamy sigh.

After dinner, I went out with Connor.  We took some photos of his friend's lit-up costume that he'd promised his friend he'd take.  And we went through the temple, and I left a note for my best friend's Dad who'd died this Winter, and I cried a bit for having lost him.

We then came across a regional sculpture that was going to be burned and we sat and watched it from start to finish.  I loved it, and took some photos I also really like.

I've always liked fires, but have never really had the opportunity to watch them outside of a fireplace or fire pit.  And it always felt safe, watching these things burn, as there were fire men and rangers and guys watching the burn and the crowd to make sure everything and everyone was kept safe.

We walked past the Thunder dome, but violence is not my thing, and we made our way home.  I was suddenly tired, and crashed out, somewhat surprised to see it was 2am.