Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

[M3rl1n]

Hello ePlaya World!

I had the wonderful opportunity to build a hexayurt and camp out in the beautiful desertscape that is Black Rock City in 2012. My angel Annie and I were lucky enough to stumble upon a camp somewhere around the 7-8 O'Clock and Kingcup area. We were pretty ignorant to the whole ‘camp’ aspect of the event and essentially just pulled over at this location because it looked ‘good enough’. I had built the hexayurt and small swamp cooler once in the backyard to ensure I could do it before attempting in the unforgiving terrain that was the playa. Luckily and thankfully our new campmates graciously welcomed their unintentional squatters, and helped me by 'candycaning' some rebar and securing it with cordage to the desert floor before a massive storm rolled through. Climbing into that little yurt and feeling its warm embrace that evening was truly a spiritual experience. The next morning we woke up and got to know our campmates better. One gentleman was busily buzzing away roasting coffee beans. I wandered over to him and began to learn 'the way' of how coffee is roasted and turned into espresso utilizing a Krups FND1 espresso machine. Over the next week he patiently instructed me on how to utilize this glorious machine through what seemed like close to a hundred attempts (it truly is an art). Our campmates turned out to be seasoned burners. They explained the lore behind what Burning Man truly is, or was, and what it had come to be. We took trips around the playa in their art car: Luke's Landspeeder from the first (fourth) Star Wars, and visited various camps, the Man, and the Temple. In the time since visiting I have built my own geodesic dome, tall bike, and recently acquired my own Krups FND1 espresso machine (for FREE!) at a yard sale. I had pretty much forgotten this experience until I began using the machine and sure enough, like riding a bike, it ALL came flooding back from my subconscious into my conscious…along with other memories of the experience. Unfortunately, I left the exchanging of contact information to my angel and in the span of over a decade these details got misplaced.

My question to this community is: do any of you know these folks? I would love to get back in contact with them. I live up in the PNW now and somewhat recall them being around these parts.

Other small details from the event are they bestowed me my Burner moniker: Merlin, and gave me a really neat wizards hat with stars and moon (see attached). One of the women in the group had blue hair and was named Crystal. They also had hexayurts, which were both larger and incredibly well equipped.

Anyways, I know it is a long shot, but if anyone has information about these folks, please send me a message and I hope to see you again if and when the stars align and I make it back to the Playa in a big and spectacular way! Preferably this year!