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I thought I would have trouble sleeping during the morning due to the heat from the rising sun, but miraculously, I found it to be too cold to sleep this morning! It was freezing! And it didn't really get warm until the sun was good and high in the sky. But when it did finally get warm, it got really warm. Forsaking my clothes in the heat, I did a little classic "tanning", though I was really just soaking up the heat. I think I did a pretty good job of using the sunscreen, as there's only one spot that feels like it might be a little burnt. In spite of what you hear about Burning Man, I saw very few naked people. There were a few, but they were clearly a minority. Granted, a large part of BM is wearing costumes, but in the daytime heat, I'd expect more people to just go naked. A lot of guys wear almost nothing, and you'll see girls here and there going topless, but full nudity is still, unfortunately, rare. So this morning I biked around a bit, while it was still cold out, and got to see the Man, and a little of the other side of the city. I went out again after lunch, when it was finally warm, and stopped by the Kostume Kult ("Costuming the Naked since 2002"). Naturally, I walked in naked, and walked out with a costume. I thought it would be cool to get some costume pieces, but ultimately, it was too hot to be dressed up... In the evening, after walking to the port-a-potties, I came out just to miss a water truck going by. It was honking periodically, and naked people would run out of their camps to get refreshingly drenched as it went by. It felt good seeing more naked people - especially fully naked women - the only one I saw not related to the water truck was at the Kostume Kult, and she had body paint on - which gives her an excuse to be fully naked. I followed the truck a bit, because it was fun watching the naked people return to their camps drenched, but I couldn't catch up to it, so I eventually walked back to my own camp. I cleaned up a bit before having some dinner and getting dressed, since the chill of night was coming on - and it is chill. At sunset, there was a loud cheer throughout the "city", and as night fell, the city really started to come to life - with lights and music and even fireworks! Burning Man is definitely one big party, and even though if that's all it turns out to be, it'll still be an amazing experience - I'm hoping I can get a little something more out of it - being a non-drinking non-partying kind of guy. Although it means less privacy for our camp on the outskirts of town, I'm kind of happy that a few more groups shuffled in and set up camp nearby us. It makes things more lively, and friendly-seeming. I'm tired, but it's still kind of early, and I haven't really checked out the city at night yet, so I think I'll take a little stroll and see what happens, not that I expect to be joining any parties... |