Greetings Eplayans!

[thnkfl]

This is my first post to this list. I've been lurking since last year, when I attended my first burn, Metropolis. I must have heard of this wondrous gathering about fifteen years ago. I recall being reminded September after September that Burning Man had just ended. In July last year a friend mentioned to me that she was going to TTITD for the first time. When I heard what the theme was to be I knew it was finally time for me to go, as I'm into radical architecture and urban design. I bought a ticket on line for gate price and soon had both it and an Atomic Fireball in my hands! I could tell this was going to be good.
We were both excited but we were both without wheels. Upon hearing of our predicament, there was great encouragement among my friends and two offers to loan a small truck for the week appeared. I was moved by my friends' generosity. We were going!
I read and studied and shopped and sewed and generally obsessed for a good month. The day came, we packed, and we headed for the unknown -- that fabulous ephemera at the end of nowhere. I was careful to observe all local speed limits.
About 24 hours later, we're making dust angels and I rang that bell like a man on fire! My friend had arrangements with a Camp and I ended up solo in a pup tent near 3:00 & Jakarta. By the way, I don't recommend using a pup tent. Still, if that was all I had, I would do it again in a heartbeat, even if it is awkward to entertain that way.
Well, I was amazed.
I was not prepared to find that amount of talent and artistry in one place. This was like the Grand Canyon compared to its description. A one-week renaissance! Avant!
I had a bike but it was a racer and not well suited to either the playa nor comfort. I quickly realized the key was to have a tricycle...go slow, carry stuff, even shade. I was certain I could find one on Craig's List when I got back. So I spent the next six days on foot and I literally walked my ass off. (Returning, my GF remarked that I had lost my butt.).
<insert a month's worth of memories in a week's time>
Now here's the thing: Before I left, I wondered what I could possibly learn for having the experience of Burning Man. When I returned, I could not say that the experience had actually changed my life were it not for my friends remarking how much happier I seemed to be. I love it.
OK, so a couple of months pass and I had been asking my friends to keep their ears open for an adult tricycle. Nothing. Then one Wednesday at lunch time, I remember that I could use the internet at work to get on Craig's List. Oh, boy! I logged on and there at the top of the list, entered at eight o'clock that morning, was an old Huffy tricycle with an oversize seat just as I imagined, for a hundred bucks, delivered. Kinda makes a fellow stop and wonder.
Now I'm into it. So let's see... has to carry food & water, my guitar, moop bag, a stereo for tunes and to cruise around playing, "Homage To The Good Humor Man", first-aid kit, change of clothes... I'll want to take a nap in the saddle...must be secure without a lot of fuss...take into account wind loading and Playa dust...
Oh, yeah, playa dust. Well, for one thing, I can't leave the skinny tires on the trike. If it's going to be useful, it will need wider tires.
We have a great bicycle shop around here. He got me what exactly what I asked for: the widest tires he could find to fit on those vintage hubs. We had to use the original 24-spoke hubs with new rims. Naturally, the spokes needed to be a different length. Hmmm, tubes, tires, slime, rims, spokes and labor times three wheels, some discount on the spoke quantity, add a new front brake because the tire is now too big, and --bless his heart -- he found a pair of springs and fitted them to the seat!
Whew. Turns out I could have bought two new trikes from China for all that. But no matter, there she was -- a classic American beauty ready to haul my ass around town and take on two inches of powder when necessary!
All along I'm thinking...hmmm, Rites of Passage. Since I accept that it is impossible to know in advance what will bring me to my senses this year, I leave the mystery to unfold in its own time and wonder what I have to offer others. Well, folks like myself going through various rites of passage might need directions. It would be easy enough to supply Maps to the Stars Homes that would at least point the way down the Rocky Road, past the Pools of Resources, beyond the Harbor of Resentment and the Meadows of Memory toward the Heights of Elation. Me? I'm avoiding the Desert of Mediocrity and heading for the Beauts.
But not everyone needs a map. However, everyone can use a second head. Why not hang a shingle on my trike: Genuine! Authentic! Original! FREE THINKING! Problems Solved! Accept No Substitutes! I could offer up the best ideas I have for any given situation. OK, maybe let's add to the trike a desk, a phone, a water mister, a privacy curtain... I don't know about seating...maybe I should have a fog horn for the white-outs...
Time marches on.
The transportation picture changed this year. The vehicle gifted to me last time was in a bad accident (My friend is now OK albeit with rods in his spine) and the other opportunity has gone. What to do? How to get there, especially now with a trike?
Being a smart man, I took the advice of a woman. She said, "Why don't you put up a sign that says you need a ride to Burning Man?" Well I did, and two hours later, as I was taking it down to go play pool, I got a call from another friend who was concerned that I should be able to go. She and her husband offered their pickup truck and a tear-drop trailer to pull behind. It would seem I live a blessed life. That was last Saturday.
And now, already, I have undergone a particularly basic Rite of Passage that I did not anticipate: Meet Mr. Rookie. Out of my fear and insecurity to have the "right" ducks lined up, I went to buy my ticket on Monday to find that the boat to Lake Lahontan had sailed Sunday.
So amigos, with a heavy heart but a wizened brain bag, I regret that unless serendipity smiles again, we will not meet this year and I will not make the friends I had hoped to. My GF says I need another year to prepare anyway. I say...NAAA!
Ciao! Enjoy!

[Elderberry]

Such a nice story, spoiled by both the lack of spacing between your paragraphs and the punch line at the end. I knew it was coming, but felt like a sucker for reading anyway. So basically, you should have read this, as your post is more of a request to buy/find a ticket than it is an introduction.

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 90&t=42348

Not worth my usual welcome.

[thnkfl]

'Tis a sad day when a fellow can't get a common welcome from the Pounder, but thanks for the link. I've decided simply to put off my burn until next year and will gift my trike to a burner friend who was in a motorcycle accident and still has some trouble with his balance.
Enjoy yourself amigo.

[Savannah]

See you next year, thnkr.

[illy dilly]

Thnkr welcome to eplaya!
I liked your story, though it was obvious that the "I need a ticket" was coming.
I like how you write, stick around eplaya the next 12 months. You'll learn more about life in BRC than you thought was possible. I've only been twice, but know more about BRC than people that have been every year for the last 6.

Also, eplayans are quick to help people we know. Its too bad you've only recently decided to join us and tell us your story, when you're in a time of need.