4 great days driving around Lake Tahoe, we camped at Zepher Cove, Camp Richardson, and King's Beach all awesome.
When we arrived at King's Beach a van pulled up next to us, a girl got out and walked by, no bra, purple dredlocks, burners!
Reese i bet those folks are going to burning man.. we beaded together, Mike taught us a bunch of new tricks, they had come from Scotland for the burn and brought their fire sticks for the event. They actually travel all around Scotland and put on fire shows, my kids were ready for their first lesson.
The excitement started to build, i mean Reese and I were getting really excited! We camped with our friends again the next night just off the 395 near Reno, we went to Party City and bought last minute hats, glasses, glow sticks and candy to share with friends. We went to the grocery store to buy fast cooking food and 35 gallons of water, we were ready i could not believe it. 3 months of reading online, all the preparation stuff, to be able to survive, be properly costumed, stay warm at night, look funky, stay cool during the day, camp at the right camp, and were did it, we were actually ready.
Not one person i knew was ready to take their kids to burning man, thank god for kidville and the yahoo chat group i've been on for the last 3 months and all the questions and discussion and for Gabrielle the 11 year old dynamo beauty we kayaked with in Santa Barbara in June that told me about her last 3 years at Burning Man. I could feel this girl from across the room, she had such presence and vitality. I could feel how Burning Man had shaped her and i asked her.. "it's shaped you hasn't it?" She nodded her head and later told us story after story. The thing i liked the best was that she told me that if she was hanging out with her friends and they saw someone dressed differently or expressing themselves uniquely, the friends might say "oohh look at that person" .. with a wrinkle in their forhead.. and Gabrielle response was not just tollerence but a cheer "go express your creative individual self.. whoa whoa!!"
Three weeks of her life over 3 years and by age 11 she had learned what we try to demonstrate in AA.. our code..
love and tollerence.. but she had actually surpassed tollerance, she had appreciation and celebration for diversity. what a concept! I instantly wanted to take my 7 yr old son, what greater life lesson is there that to love others exactly as they are, to celebrate diversity and give each person a chance to shine in their own way and to feel safe enough to do so.
One hour past Reno we came up over a big hill to Pyramid Lake, it was spactular, the desert is just incredibly beautiful and we swam (it was 90+) and talked with a bunch of folks on the way to the Burn, one of the had a pink naked lady car that we really liked.
We drove in last night and the kids got to ring the big bell on arrival, they greeted us at the gate with gifts and hugs.. Welcome Home they yelled! We cruised the playa and watched lots of things being built as the city comes together, what a trip.
I woke up at 6am and watched the sunrise on the playa and i was really silenced by the beauty. It feels amazing here, the community, the art, the aliveness.. I am so excited for this week and i can actually get internet so i can write about it.
gotta go put up my shade structure now.. more later..
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