To say this experience was an intense one is an understatement. From the planning which was a whirlwind, to the coming together of my community to collectively make sure I not only got there, but also to be taken care of and included was all so overwhelming in the best possible way. To venture out for art this way was the pinnacle of how I feel about art in society. It is vital to a healthy existence and a catalist for balance like nothing else on the planet and to dedicate and entire city to the expression of art is just amazing to me. Butfirst, let’s start at the beginning… the sewing began. PamDemonium Designs
Making sure you prepare for your health was so important since the conditions of the land is not meant to sustain life of any kind. You had to make sure you were covered on all fronts including your lungs. Alkaline dust is what is out there and what people assume is sand, it so isn’t. It is corrosive if left on any surface (including your skin and lungs) for extended periods of time so it was important for me to have good filtering, clean and washable masks to protect myself from the dust storms that lasted for hours on occasion. So I made me quite a few to match my outfits. But having the ability to mask up and protect my eyes really made a difference to how comfortable my adventures were and how not to have problems with my lungs later. Goggles were of utmost importance and so grateful my friend lent me his from his prior visits to Burning man making it easier on my tiny budget. I had such a small budget that these gestures really blessed me. And made my trip so much more enjoyable.
Being a sewist and a quilter helped me really save money on the things I needed out there. I ended up relying on my community for many things but the sewing really helped me sew up gifts I wanted to bestow upon those beautiful souls along the way that I was blessed to have shared this experience with. If only I had more time to prepare but this really made it fun to emerse myself into the art of it all. I love gifting my art and this place just enhances that with it’s gifting principle I so whole heartedly embraced it. I gave away so much but not just my sewing/ I have away food, love meds and even my happiness to make sure others felt appreciated.
And for tranporation out there my friend and I collaborated on buiding my bike. He put one together for me for my height requirements and the tires to make sure I’d be ok with the changes in terrain out there from hard surface to “sandy” surfaces that my road bike wouldn’t handle well. I, of course, sewed up a storm and made myself plenty of storage to be able to carry what I needed while out there on my bike. All the smaller parts of my creations also fit on my fanny pack making it out to be a great utility belt for my water and other items since it was latched on by velcro. Even made the front bag insulated in case I wanted to keep something stable in temperature.
Making this bike made me appreciate who I am now. I never had the chance to have a “dream” bike as a kid so this was totally hitting my inner child and made me love art even more. And of course, I had to add lights since there is no light out there and its a matter of safety. When I got out there, one strand broke but I made due by taking more with me then I thought I needed. Plus, it washed up all nicely in my machine after I got back so all my textile work is intact.
Since I was flying into Reno and not driving there, the logistics were something to dive into. The camp I was landing on, Sonic Soul Tribe, had a community truck leaving Texas and making stops in Houston, Austin and Dallas which allowed me to throw stuff on it but I had to immerse myself into learning a bit of bike mechanics on Youtube to see how to pack the thing into the bike box. That was a huge undertaking for a newbie like me and working alone with my damn ADHD made me repack it so many times cuz I kept forgetting to put major things into the box like the from wheel. But I did it and felt great picking up these skills.
Once everything was packed I needed to take it to Austin which was an hour away. I had packed up my solar generator, my solar panel, large cooler and the cold clothing including my quilt cape I made but didn’t get a chance to wear it since my time there was never cold enough for it. Had to add the heaviest of clothes to my packs on the truck so I could save the weight of the plane gear for my tent in case the truck was late, I could still have somewhere to sleep. Radical self reliance is another principle I kept in mind for this part. But also, this principle of communal effort was also in full effect because I relied on friend to get my stuff to Austin and sback since I don’t drive.
So off we went.
I am so grateful my friend gifted me the ride to make sure I was able to take what I needed. I felt so much love in spending this time driving back and forth with her and felt like i am blessed beyond words to have such support from such a wonderful friendship I have with Erin. This experience even up to this point was communal and that is what this world needs. To be love and supported by one another.
Now it was beginning to set in. Shit was happening and eventually the day arrived and I was off. Or so I thought. I was so exited and lost track of my days (as my brain tends to do) and ended up at the airport a day early. Luckily, my friends helped me out and got me there the next day on time and ready to take this journey on. I was terrified since I was heading alone but I heard time and time again that I was going to meet people along the way and boy I sure did. Getting to the airport was a whole ordead and I was exhausted but happy.
By the time I got to Reno I had met two of the most loving and charming ladies even before I got out of the airport in Reno. I met Good Trouble as I left San Antonio and Double B once I got to Reno. Good Trouble and I went to take our shuttles to our respective hotels only to find out that they didn’t have any despite having it listed on their sites. So we went back inside to regroup and Double B came to the rescue and asked if we needed a ride! We laughed so much together because we initially thought that we were going to try to fit all the luggage into a convertable Mustang but luckily we had a proper vehicle to throw all of our bags in and goit things going towards the hotels. It was Burning Man or Bust!!!!
It was such a blessing to have spent my first moments in Reno with these two lovely ladies. They are both veteran burners with several Burning Man experiences under their belt so they filled me in on things I needed to know and gave me quite a few laughs that put me at ease. Double B even took us to the store to make sure we got our water and even took us to the airport in the morning. I couldn’t have had a more blessed time than this to begin my journey. I was hooked.
We arrived in Reno and they even treated me to a prime rib dinner at one of the casinos. I’d never been so it was awesome to be able to get to know this city with them.
So we all had a good nights sleep and headed out the next day. Double B dropped us off at th airport to get into enourmous line to take the Burner Express out to the desert. We were pretty early so I decided to get into the line in case there was an earlier bus that I could grab. I ended up getting on the bus that had no stop at the store like I had anitcipate so I was blessed to have had the store trip the night before. I had already purchased most of my food in Texas and brough it along with me since I had to make sure what I had was shelf stable and gluten free so I was set.
The ride out there was gorgeous and desolate. I sat next to a gentleman from Denmark and immediately felt like there were people from all over the world converging in the desert. The people in the seat ahead of us were from Guadalajara.
