1995Everyone's first Burning Man is one of the best, most monumental things they've ever done. Mine sure was. After 2 years of prodding by Steve, I made it to the playa. This year's attendance tipped the scales at 5000 hearty souls - pushng the limit for what had til then been a unique event. It wasn't yet safe, nowhere near sane, but still with a foundation of reverence and beatific wonder at all the extremes of art, of nature and of community. The shifting geography of people and their stuff meant that it was really easy to get dangerously lost, and I did. It was a blast. Our crew was dubbed Fandango by the searching cries we used to find each other in the night.This was the year it became the Next Big Thing, covered by MTV, US News and World Report.This was the beginning of the end.And it was glorious. |