Yes, yes, it’s been a while since I’ve put fingers to keyboard and I apologize. However, in the style of someone I know who is never out of excuses, let’s try this one. It’s been a busy and emotional few weeks.
Two weeks ago, I became a Burner. I can hear some of my friends now – “What, she’s been cooking again?” And although the weekend did involve some quite tasty food, I was not responsible. I’m sure many of you have heard of Burning Man, held yearly in the deserts of Nevada (I think it’s Nevada, but it is definitely in a desert). There is a midwestern version entitled Interfuse, which this year was held in the wilds of south central Missouri.
I was enticed there by friends who have been attending for several years and have created a presence as the Spice Pirates. Their theme is to present spicy food and drink that allows the partaker to feel the burn while still being able to appreciate the flavor. And to not burn out your taste buds. This year, the Pirates presented habanjera tequila and Ghost Chile tequila, if that was too tame. Included were wings with a variety of spicy and sweet sauces, perk you up sliders, crab Rangoon, and an excellent chili. This is a gifting society, so the food was passed out to happy campers until it was gone.
So there’s the fly in the ointment – I was camping. I am not unaccustomed to camping. I have a very nice little popup tent, and a canopy (which was not interested in staying up). But I really hate camping when the weather is not pleasant. And did I mention that part of the enticement for coming, aside from all the interesting people I would meet, was that it was clothing optional. Now I don’t usually stroll around au naturel, but I do enjoy wandering in a sarong. So you can imagine my disappointment when the thunderstorm hit Thursday night, turning our campsite into a shambles, leaving a small puddle in my tent, and dropping the temperature to a nasty 40 something degrees. And the wind blew all day Friday and it rained, and Saturday the wind blew and it rained. And the temperature barely broke 50.
I was forced to layer on most of the clothes I had, and bundle my blanket around me. More daring souls were willing to stroll or ride bicycles in the buff, they even managed a naked relay, but I stayed damp and cold and cursed the weather. Trying to think about other things, I took a plate of wings to the staff at the camp radio station, where I mentioned that I wrote erotica. As there was about 30 minutes to fill, I was graciously asked to read something, so I hied back to the tent for one of my stories. I don’t know how many people were listening, but the staff seemed appreciative, so I felt warm snugglies that I was able to contribute to the event.
Saturday night, the wind dropped down and the rain held off and we were treated to a quite lovely display of fire-working, fireworks, and the burning of the effigy. All went as perfectly as possible and I was quite impressed with the production. And that night I was able to at least sleep warmly and undisturbed by loud noises (one of the big sound camps was right behind our campsite and another group decided to run porn movies at top volume later in the night on Friday).
Sunday was still grey and windy, but I had high hopes for making it out without having to wring out my jacket. Alas, that was not to be, and the rain came and went for several hours while we tried to pack up and move out. My feet were finally officially dry as of Tuesday. I spent most of the remainder of Sunday and Monday in bed with several blankets and three cats in an attempt to get warm again.
This was not quite the weekend I was envisioning. Still, there were some interesting sights. And our food was good. And I met some friends I had not seen in a while. And I found non-gender toilets and showers not at all intimidating. So I’m a bit on the fence about next year. But maybe if I take a tub of light clothes, and a tub of winter clothes, and three blankets, and a platform to put my tent on and stake it to, and ten towels, and an Army poncho and high rubber boots, I might be able to survive it. We’ll see.
As for the other items that have pulled me away from writing, I shall be moving on to those shortly. Stay tuned, my friends.
