photo of the month
from randy kato





I've chosen yet another photo from Burning Man this month - the third in the three months I've been back. I promise I'll have something else for you to see next month, but this picture is pretty special.

We had been driving for five days across this vast country (from NY to NV), persevering through a blowout on the highway and other delays. We make it to the Black Rock Desert, just outside the fence where we stop at will call to pick up a ticket.

It's here that things get miserable. We just want to get in but we have to sit and wait... then comes the cold wind... then the rain... then the word that nobody could move. Everybody is told to stay put due to the wet playa surface which sticks to everything. If you walk a few steps on wet playa, you'll instantly have "playa platforms" - inches (and pounds) of something more like clay than mud stuck to your shoes. Vehicles driving on wet playa would be incredibly destructive, so we all just have to wait.

As we sigh heavily and try to muster our last vestiges of patience, the old Burning Man saying proves true yet again and "the playa provides." Blue skies break through the clouds and the rain moves away, but just enough to leave us free to emerge from our shelters and marvel at the most intense double rainbow I've ever seen.

Welcome to Black Rock City!

And just like that, the mood turns 180°. Downturned sullen faces are now pointed skyward, wide-eyed and giddy. Everybody who had been cloistered in their vehicles, is now outside making friends, sharing food & drinks and turning the parking lot into a party.

Welcome to Burning Man!

Enjoy!
Randy




Photo of the Month archive