Firefly Regional Burn

No matter the circumstances, I try to make it to Burning Man every year - Matt and I have been attending since 2007. That was the year, Matthew and I were living out of my car. 2008, I flew into Tucson, drove to the Burn with Tracy and her exboyfriend. Third year, Patrick and I were headed to Austin, detoured to the Burn instead. Last year, I skipped the festival because I felt guilty leaving Patrick with 40 boxes of unpacked stuff in our new apartment - Rites of Passage: End of August: This will be my fourth Burn.... Definitely going.... for sure....

Burningman is only a week long - But the community created through that festival, lasts forever... Thousands of people fueled by love, life, the desire to celebrate - Regional burns happen all over the US..... In the past, I've attended Burning FlipSide (Austin TX) and Toast (AZ). Lightning in A Bottle,  Joshua Tree Music Festival. Last weekend, Matthew invited me to Firefly in Vermont, which is pretty difficult to get tickets to, they cap it at 600 individuals....

I was not in the mood to attend... but... I didn't know what else to do with myself.

Happy I went. Had a good time. Put my head back where I needed it to be.

Three of us drove, elephant trunk to tail, Masha and Michael in one car, Sarah and Aaron in their jeep, Matthew and I crammed in the convertible. Brought our dogs, Yukon (Sarah's Akita) and Mom-dog. Boarded them in Burlington Vermont. Arrived at midnight, set up camp at 5am, climbed into our sleeping bags as the birds were chirping and the sky was beginning to turn back on....

Blurry weekend of happiness - Days run into Days, Nights were Days, Days were Nights.... Made a ton of friends. Friday I spent most of my night helping to set up Store with Matthew (a camp that allows you to pick out clothing for free) - Ate pizza from Pizza Camp, there was a man dressed as a teddy bear, drank a bunch of wine with friends, danced on a hilltop, under some colorful lights, at some point I fell asleep in a hammock with Matthew....

Saturday we partied early, Starship Bring a Cup Camp was open, serving homebrewed beer. The Bug (the burning effigy) needed to be stuffed with wood, no one showed up to help - So our crew volunteered. Matt, Sarah, Aaron, Masha, four other people. Dragging sticks, firewood, trees, stuffing the effigy for the Burn. Great workout! I recruited a ton of people (including some larpers), by seducing them with beer. Abraham was my best recruit of the bunch, really hard working. He ended up hanging out with us most of the weekend.... Partied at Store till sunset, made portabello burgers on a fireplace. Attended the Burn, sat next to a guy making french fries, danced around the embers. Blur! Eventually I curled up with a bunch of hippies and watched Barbarella all night.

Favorite camp at Burning Man? Steambath Camp! They have been attending Burning Man for years, they are Boston Burners and they attend Firefly!.... Matthew, Sarah, Aaron, Abraham, and I... steamed for hours together Sunday morning. Naked. Wet. Breathing hot air. Sweaty. Humidity. Fantastic... Yoga, Art, Hiking - Matthew and I practiced our silly stripping skills in Hammock camp, we played Scrabble with cheeze-its, we ate vegan tofu burritos, dressed up at superheros. Matt wore a turban. We attended the Space party at Bring A Cup. The marching band, that I fell in love with at SXSW, was there - They covered Justin Timberlake and Got Their Sexy ON!.....

Probably sounds ridiculous. But rarely I am attracted to men these days (my job has ruined everything), rarely do I look at someone and think, "I want to kiss that person." It happened, though - Over the weekend, I had my eyes on this smiling eyed bartender at Bring A Cup... Sunday night, after the party, he came over, sat next to me by the fire. I don't know who kissed who, but we were kissing and it was lovely... Matt kept leaning over and going, "If you don't bring him back to the tent, I am going to..." .... But, that was not what I wanted, in my head, that was not what I wanted.... We chatted until 5am, holding hands, sharing a bottle of Sailor Jerry. He asked for my number and I said No (mostly, because I am too vulnerable right now, and it is wayy too soon for boys right now)... But ... In the morning, I decided that by not leaving my number, I was removing every chance of seeing him again - Which was unacceptable. So I left my number. And..... He called me, texted me and he emailed me all in one weekend... He seems *just* persistent enough (which balances out my non-persistentness...), that I might actually see him again... maybe.