Burning Man (Richards perspective)

This is Richard's first and only post to this blog. Steve has been doing a good job and he continues with his own version of Burning Man which follows, but I feel compelled to add some comments in my own words.
I consider last week to be one of the top five events in my life, thus far. The experience was moving at times, exciting, unexpected and humbling. Black Rock City (where Burning Man takes place) rises out of the desert from nothing and becomes a vibrant city which is a cross between Las Vegas, New York, ancient Greece, and a T.J. backwater street. There is something different around every corner, from a fire hoop to jump through to a potato slinging contest to a first class live art performance on par with a $250 seat Broadway show. Everything and anything can be found here, and yet you pay for nothing and this was by far the most impressive part of my experience. Everything is given away and provided out of goodness of people. The costs involved to individuals could be significant or minor depending on the service provided. Some people spend thousands of dollars to host an unlimited bar for the whole week and others sit in the hot sun misting people riding by on bicycles. Once, while waiting for Steve, I was alone on the bicycle and it was late at night. An elderly couple approached and said they had a gift for me. It was a handcrafted bandanna that the woman wrote my name on. She had made several to give to random people that she thought could use it to help block out the dust. I said thank you and before anything else was said, they vanished in the night. Another time, I went to a postcard party. Besides providing all the postcards and pens, the woman made sure that she stamped each and every card. The next day at the post office, I discovered the postmaster had all the stamps to make sure everything had the correct postage. No one would ever be charged for a stamp. I noticed a sign that was asking for volunteers to deliver the mail. This was mail that had been sent from around the country with valid postage and they needed carriers to deliver it. I took off on my bike to find the people with only the address, "she is at the place where the squid art car is parked". Sometimes I found the people and sometimes not, so it had to be returned to the post office as undeliverable. It was a fun. Although I did this minor task and also shared food with our 14 camp mates, Steve and I TOOK way more than we gave THIS TIME. We did not realize the extent of the extreme nature of the strangers who gave without question and always did it with a smile and without any expectation of something in return. How strange and different this was from our society as a whole! This activity made a deep impression on me. With all the music, art cars, and sometimes craziness that went on 24/7, one NEVER saw anger, fighting, mean words, or hostility. How different our lives would be if we could all practice at least some of the principles from Burning Man...Steve has more comments......