BURN
Okay, the mental dust has settled somewhat, and I'm going over and recapping my funsie-trip three weekends ago. This is, for the most part, just highlights. Burns tend to blur in the brain both during, and after.
Did a whole bunch of planning, and worked on the art project I was bringing, several weekends before. Plan A was to rent a Uhaul trailer, snag it early Thursday morning, and then drop back by the house to snag the big stuff. Looking at the weather forecast for Thursday (that's Feb 13), I cancelled the Uhaul rental on Tuesday afternoon. Loaded the car (got up at 0600, took 2-1/2 hours to load) on Wednesday morning. The art project was a bit on the top-heavy side, but I made it. Did have to pull the firebowl off my roof for the garage -- it tried to take out a sprinkler.
Left work as usual, and at 1830 while on 66, the snow started. About 2 hours earlier than predicted, of course. Dashed home, snagged a couple of forgotten items, and hauled ass for Martinsburg. Checked in at 2100, with a couple inches on the ground already. Slept in until 0730 or so, to have daylight for the trip. Good thing I'd brought the snow shovel and Squeeper -- had to shovel my way from the motel room door, to the car door. Packed, loaded, and hit the road by about 0800. The 4-wheel drive got a workout, just leaving the hotel -- about 12-14 inches' worth on the spots that were unplowed, plowed driveway had 6 or 8.
I did not do my usual backroad shortcut thing. 81 to Hagerstown to 70 to Breezewood, in theory. Except for the mile-long backup on 70 due to a semitrailer crash. Hopped off on US40 to Hancock. Didn't have any issues with Town Hill, got into Breezewood just fine. Turnpike was iffy, so went on US30 to get to 99. Plus, I needed to shop for some last-minute stuffs. 99 to 332 to Phillipsburg to Brookville, and I don't think I ever got above 50. 3-1/2 hour trip took more like 7 hours.
Finally, got the big "Welcome Home!" at Gate. Lots of hugs, and scored my cool Frostburn Medic badge. Wandered up to the Barn and snagged a staff radio, announced my presence. Made it up the hill, to where 10-Pint Men were set. Of course, afternoon was wearing on. Our host, proprietor of Camp Kevin, had been plowing out roads all over the hill for camps. He dug out a spot for my tent, and a place to unload the Temple kit, but by that time it was a bit late for a wall tent. I put up my pop-up survival tent, and set my lesser air mattress and sleeping bags inside. Rather than bother with fancy stuff, I fired up the car, turned on the heat, and scarfed an emergency ration (aka nuke-a-lunch) from my survival supplies.
1900 or so, fed, and stocked with energy drinks and whatnot, trekked up the hill to spend the evening at Habitat for Insanity. You gotta love a place where the space heater is a work of art. Two 55-gallon drums on their sides, one above the other. Lower drum is a wood stove, upper drum is a heat exchanger. WITH, mind you, auto-engine exhaust manifolds serving as air conduits. My major activity for the evening was hanging out and schmoozing. My cousin Bee and her boyfriend made it to camp about 2300, after a hairy trip from Baltimore. They'd already been up earlier in the week, because he was the Effigy Builder. Bunches of good music, as well. I had to make sure the radio was on at midnight, because I had Sober Staff Duty from midnight to 6.
Coming out of Habitat, it was like daylight: Huge full moon, clear sky full of stars, and the world covered in white and reflecting the moonlight. Wandered a bit, then headed down to camp, set the radio to the zzz frequency, and crashed. Found out some things, though. The Survival Pop-Up Pyramid lets in a LOT of snow. It's also a pain to get boots on inside. My sleeping bags (fleece inside poncho liner inside mummy bag) worked, though. Air mattress let me down, but better than on cold ground. Up and out by 0830, and sat in the car thawing, munching E-rats, and taking notes.
For the tent, I began by setting the dog-screws that I use for stakes. Then, I strung the rope that went to the side-loop carabiners. Assembled the frame, sans legs. A young lady whom I'd helped with her tent, came over and assisted me in unrolling mine over the frame. Legs up, rope hooked, and ready for Phase 2. In the spirit of laziness, I figured I'd get the tent up, THEN use the snow shovel to level only those spots that needed it. Laid out and staked the tarp floor, and moved in. I got a two-burner tank-top heater last year. This year I brought a full tank, and a partial. I'd also spent $12 or so on a plastic D-battery fan from WalMart. Best twelve bucks I'd spent in years. At full crank, with the fan on high, I got the tent up to 80 degrees. Useful later on in the weekend for taking a Playa bath when I was feeling grubby.
The Temple construction didn't quite match my original concept drawing. I was a bit off on the math for the number of boards needed. However, it did go up, and did work. Walls were about 6" low, but it worked. Only place that really needed a lot of help, was 4 people to put the roof on. Had an odd board, which wound up becoming a door-lintel.
The theme, "Vale Lazaretta", was a goodbye and release-of-attachment to the car I'd wrecked in October. I'd planned on a platform, with a model of the car. Instead, I tagged the wall with "VALE" and a silhouette. The "altar" was a tight-laid stack of firewood, with a red cloth over it. On that, I placed a couple of notebooks and a stack of Sharpies. My own piece, I said on page 1 of one of the books.
Didn't get further up-hill than the Temple until about 2000. Meanwhile, the neighbors had set up their camp, and my campmates arrived and set up. The neighbors fired up generators, and we had Techno and Trance music for the duration. I've slept through 8-inch howitzers firing over my head. Trance rock next door, meh. I put a trio of battery-operated glowies in the Temple, to attract nighttime attention. Except, of course, some conservation minded soul switched them off. Ah, well. They worked Saturday and Sunday nights.
My fellow Medic, RumRunner (who is in charge of first aid at Playa Del Fuego) arrived Friday. He'd brought his EZ-Up with woodstove for a warm fixed-point first-aid area. TomP, who'd done the logistics-and-planning side of Medical before the Burn, brought chili for the Medics' meet-and-greet on Saturday.
Back to Habitat, till about 0100. Conversation, schmoozing, pizza, bit of ice cream. A guy was doing interesting things with beer floats. I had a float-hold-the-beer-I'm-on-duty-please, aka ice cream by itself. I also got introduced to spiced mangos -- bite sized bits with, I think, Garam Masala. Swung by Bat Country's new bar, for the one brief bit that I hung out there. The new bar is more modest in size, but is slot-and-groove construction so it breaks down flat. It's slightly curved, so that when emptied of booze and turned onto its front, it becomes a 4-person see-saw. With a long enough, and flexible enough, propane hose, you can leave the flames turned on and have a FLAMING seesaw.
Our camp eats really well. Norwegian Peasant Stew, meat pies, pizza, breakfast was French toast with bananas foster topping. Also, medieval Spanish beef. There was so much food out, that the Brunswick Stew I'd brought didn't get touched. I donated it to Man Camp on Sunday night, because they were feeding people.
Saturday, the Artillery Mocha coffee bar got lots of play. Hot, caffeinated (or not), people stopped in. Had one guy come in for a cup of tea. While talking, he asked if I'd ever smoked a certain drug, and I said no. I asked about the effects (he'd done a LOT of it), and he said it was indescribable in words. He then unlimbered his guitar, and played me a piece he'd written to describe it. Even to my non-drugged brain, the music did convey the feelings he was trying to describe. One of those odd moments that can only happen at a Burn.
I didn't realize that the Miss Frostburn Pageant where I'd been a judge, in 2011, was the first such pageant. Cool stuff. The judges' panel this year was mostly the three previous winners, plus a couple of staff types. Highlights included a friend who does aerial silk work, doing a trapeze act; a howlingly funny guy competing as Miss Sparkle Pony; and the eventual winner, with a great musical number. I could have lived without the male stripper.
We kept the home fires burning well around camp -- our camp always gets LOTS of wood. We're also good at lighting it. Every year, I save up all the wax from our house candles. Right before Frostburn, I comine the wax in a double boiler, with those wood shavings they use for litter in rodent cages. Scoop into paper bags, and you get small bricks of accelerant that my campmates call Nuclear Fire Starters. The constant fire and lots of wood purchase also meant lots of hot dogs, Smores, and things like dutch-oven pizza. I didn't get any takers for Medieval dancing this year -- maybe next. Had the boombox, had the tunes, it was there if folks had wanted to. The keg of cider was, however, popular with the drinkers.
I didn't realize it was Bee's boyfriend who had conceived and built the Effigy, until I went to help him prime it up with some accelerants. This year's piece, which he titled the Frostburn Totem, did look like an abstract totem pole. With its agglomeration of rope, burlap, cable spools looking like barrels, and spars, I thought that it was also evocative of the 2013 Burning Man theme, Cargo Cult. Even more cool, he had guys with a genny / laptop / projector, putting animated totem-pole faces on it, up till the fire conclave. I took perimeter guard, since that's what I do. Really easy when you've got a big circular plow-zone: "Hi, come on over, the safe area is this side of the plow drift." Even cooler, he spun fire in the Conclave, then used his torches to light the Effigy.
Hung out in Habitat for the most part, rest of the evening. The V-Spot was chilly, Bike Camp was occupied, and the Sweat Lodge would have swallowed me up if I'd gone in. Wound up finishing my gear-up in Man Camp, then off to bed.
0530 Sunday morning, was presented with a test. CONDITION: space heater out, tank empty, bladder full. Task: Change tanks and relight burner. Task: Pee Standard: Change tank, relight burner, before pissing myself. Standard: Jump out back of tent, make yellow snow, get back in front of burner before freezing dick off. Evaluation: Tank change and re-light accomplished in <1 minute. Arrived back in front of burner, after pee mission, with all appendages unfrozen. Grade: Pass.
My radio finally died, so I went to the Barn, to get a fresh one. Got some pics of Kevin's ZombieTrac -- a Geo Tracker with the wheels replaced by treads. I also got to play a bit of Riskee Ball with the setup that Totenkitten had put by the barn. A lot of Ten Pint Men packed out on Sunday, leaving me with one campmate who's Frostburn staff. Our campmate J left his wooden noggin again. Hopefully this year we'll get it back to him before the last day of Pennsic.
Sunday evening: I was going to close the Temple 3 hours before ignition, to prep for the Burn. Rather, I broadcast a last call at 1600, then actually started burn prep at 1800. Three fire lays equidistant around the hexagonal structure. A nuclear starter at the bottom, then scrap from the temple board cutouts, marinated all day in tiki-torch oil. Finally, a partial bottle of tiki oil mixed with a quart of white gas, and split into the three accelerant containers for inclusion in the three fire lays. On the fire lay that had been the altar, I placed the notebooks, and envelopes of feelings given to me by some friends. At 1900, I lit the flares for the Burn.
Back up to Habitat, the highlight of which was singing karaoke in the V-Spot. I did shots of water rather than Kamikazes, but then I didn't need to do any recreational substances in order to sing some Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin (Paranoid and Black Dog, respectively).
Monday, packing out. Combine ADD with things like defrosting a frozen stew pot, helping others to pack, checking for MOOP, and so foth, and I was one of the last ones out (like, 1700). I, however, unlike many others, drove out without needing a tow. I also had to deal with a pile of ice in my driver's seat. I thought, "WTF? I did NOT leave a door or window open in the car last night." Then, I saw the Monster drink can lying on its side. Pointing at the driver's door. With its top blown off by the freezing beverage. In all, four cans were sacrificed to the Fire Gods and turned to aluminum oxide.
Gas-and-bladder stop in Brookville, with dinner being a Sheetz sub. Rolled down 36 to 119 to Greensburg where I'd reserved a motel room. Sleep deprivation kicked in, so I chugged a Monster and a couple of 5-Hour shots on the way. Checked into the motel, and crashed hard. Monday morning, up, out, and scrub a last parting shot of Wintry Mix from the car before heading home.
All in all, a great Burn.
[DW Original]
Did a whole bunch of planning, and worked on the art project I was bringing, several weekends before. Plan A was to rent a Uhaul trailer, snag it early Thursday morning, and then drop back by the house to snag the big stuff. Looking at the weather forecast for Thursday (that's Feb 13), I cancelled the Uhaul rental on Tuesday afternoon. Loaded the car (got up at 0600, took 2-1/2 hours to load) on Wednesday morning. The art project was a bit on the top-heavy side, but I made it. Did have to pull the firebowl off my roof for the garage -- it tried to take out a sprinkler.
Left work as usual, and at 1830 while on 66, the snow started. About 2 hours earlier than predicted, of course. Dashed home, snagged a couple of forgotten items, and hauled ass for Martinsburg. Checked in at 2100, with a couple inches on the ground already. Slept in until 0730 or so, to have daylight for the trip. Good thing I'd brought the snow shovel and Squeeper -- had to shovel my way from the motel room door, to the car door. Packed, loaded, and hit the road by about 0800. The 4-wheel drive got a workout, just leaving the hotel -- about 12-14 inches' worth on the spots that were unplowed, plowed driveway had 6 or 8.
I did not do my usual backroad shortcut thing. 81 to Hagerstown to 70 to Breezewood, in theory. Except for the mile-long backup on 70 due to a semitrailer crash. Hopped off on US40 to Hancock. Didn't have any issues with Town Hill, got into Breezewood just fine. Turnpike was iffy, so went on US30 to get to 99. Plus, I needed to shop for some last-minute stuffs. 99 to 332 to Phillipsburg to Brookville, and I don't think I ever got above 50. 3-1/2 hour trip took more like 7 hours.
Finally, got the big "Welcome Home!" at Gate. Lots of hugs, and scored my cool Frostburn Medic badge. Wandered up to the Barn and snagged a staff radio, announced my presence. Made it up the hill, to where 10-Pint Men were set. Of course, afternoon was wearing on. Our host, proprietor of Camp Kevin, had been plowing out roads all over the hill for camps. He dug out a spot for my tent, and a place to unload the Temple kit, but by that time it was a bit late for a wall tent. I put up my pop-up survival tent, and set my lesser air mattress and sleeping bags inside. Rather than bother with fancy stuff, I fired up the car, turned on the heat, and scarfed an emergency ration (aka nuke-a-lunch) from my survival supplies.
1900 or so, fed, and stocked with energy drinks and whatnot, trekked up the hill to spend the evening at Habitat for Insanity. You gotta love a place where the space heater is a work of art. Two 55-gallon drums on their sides, one above the other. Lower drum is a wood stove, upper drum is a heat exchanger. WITH, mind you, auto-engine exhaust manifolds serving as air conduits. My major activity for the evening was hanging out and schmoozing. My cousin Bee and her boyfriend made it to camp about 2300, after a hairy trip from Baltimore. They'd already been up earlier in the week, because he was the Effigy Builder. Bunches of good music, as well. I had to make sure the radio was on at midnight, because I had Sober Staff Duty from midnight to 6.
Coming out of Habitat, it was like daylight: Huge full moon, clear sky full of stars, and the world covered in white and reflecting the moonlight. Wandered a bit, then headed down to camp, set the radio to the zzz frequency, and crashed. Found out some things, though. The Survival Pop-Up Pyramid lets in a LOT of snow. It's also a pain to get boots on inside. My sleeping bags (fleece inside poncho liner inside mummy bag) worked, though. Air mattress let me down, but better than on cold ground. Up and out by 0830, and sat in the car thawing, munching E-rats, and taking notes.
For the tent, I began by setting the dog-screws that I use for stakes. Then, I strung the rope that went to the side-loop carabiners. Assembled the frame, sans legs. A young lady whom I'd helped with her tent, came over and assisted me in unrolling mine over the frame. Legs up, rope hooked, and ready for Phase 2. In the spirit of laziness, I figured I'd get the tent up, THEN use the snow shovel to level only those spots that needed it. Laid out and staked the tarp floor, and moved in. I got a two-burner tank-top heater last year. This year I brought a full tank, and a partial. I'd also spent $12 or so on a plastic D-battery fan from WalMart. Best twelve bucks I'd spent in years. At full crank, with the fan on high, I got the tent up to 80 degrees. Useful later on in the weekend for taking a Playa bath when I was feeling grubby.
The Temple construction didn't quite match my original concept drawing. I was a bit off on the math for the number of boards needed. However, it did go up, and did work. Walls were about 6" low, but it worked. Only place that really needed a lot of help, was 4 people to put the roof on. Had an odd board, which wound up becoming a door-lintel.
The theme, "Vale Lazaretta", was a goodbye and release-of-attachment to the car I'd wrecked in October. I'd planned on a platform, with a model of the car. Instead, I tagged the wall with "VALE" and a silhouette. The "altar" was a tight-laid stack of firewood, with a red cloth over it. On that, I placed a couple of notebooks and a stack of Sharpies. My own piece, I said on page 1 of one of the books.
Didn't get further up-hill than the Temple until about 2000. Meanwhile, the neighbors had set up their camp, and my campmates arrived and set up. The neighbors fired up generators, and we had Techno and Trance music for the duration. I've slept through 8-inch howitzers firing over my head. Trance rock next door, meh. I put a trio of battery-operated glowies in the Temple, to attract nighttime attention. Except, of course, some conservation minded soul switched them off. Ah, well. They worked Saturday and Sunday nights.
My fellow Medic, RumRunner (who is in charge of first aid at Playa Del Fuego) arrived Friday. He'd brought his EZ-Up with woodstove for a warm fixed-point first-aid area. TomP, who'd done the logistics-and-planning side of Medical before the Burn, brought chili for the Medics' meet-and-greet on Saturday.
Back to Habitat, till about 0100. Conversation, schmoozing, pizza, bit of ice cream. A guy was doing interesting things with beer floats. I had a float-hold-the-beer-I'm-on-duty-please, aka ice cream by itself. I also got introduced to spiced mangos -- bite sized bits with, I think, Garam Masala. Swung by Bat Country's new bar, for the one brief bit that I hung out there. The new bar is more modest in size, but is slot-and-groove construction so it breaks down flat. It's slightly curved, so that when emptied of booze and turned onto its front, it becomes a 4-person see-saw. With a long enough, and flexible enough, propane hose, you can leave the flames turned on and have a FLAMING seesaw.
Our camp eats really well. Norwegian Peasant Stew, meat pies, pizza, breakfast was French toast with bananas foster topping. Also, medieval Spanish beef. There was so much food out, that the Brunswick Stew I'd brought didn't get touched. I donated it to Man Camp on Sunday night, because they were feeding people.
Saturday, the Artillery Mocha coffee bar got lots of play. Hot, caffeinated (or not), people stopped in. Had one guy come in for a cup of tea. While talking, he asked if I'd ever smoked a certain drug, and I said no. I asked about the effects (he'd done a LOT of it), and he said it was indescribable in words. He then unlimbered his guitar, and played me a piece he'd written to describe it. Even to my non-drugged brain, the music did convey the feelings he was trying to describe. One of those odd moments that can only happen at a Burn.
I didn't realize that the Miss Frostburn Pageant where I'd been a judge, in 2011, was the first such pageant. Cool stuff. The judges' panel this year was mostly the three previous winners, plus a couple of staff types. Highlights included a friend who does aerial silk work, doing a trapeze act; a howlingly funny guy competing as Miss Sparkle Pony; and the eventual winner, with a great musical number. I could have lived without the male stripper.
We kept the home fires burning well around camp -- our camp always gets LOTS of wood. We're also good at lighting it. Every year, I save up all the wax from our house candles. Right before Frostburn, I comine the wax in a double boiler, with those wood shavings they use for litter in rodent cages. Scoop into paper bags, and you get small bricks of accelerant that my campmates call Nuclear Fire Starters. The constant fire and lots of wood purchase also meant lots of hot dogs, Smores, and things like dutch-oven pizza. I didn't get any takers for Medieval dancing this year -- maybe next. Had the boombox, had the tunes, it was there if folks had wanted to. The keg of cider was, however, popular with the drinkers.
I didn't realize it was Bee's boyfriend who had conceived and built the Effigy, until I went to help him prime it up with some accelerants. This year's piece, which he titled the Frostburn Totem, did look like an abstract totem pole. With its agglomeration of rope, burlap, cable spools looking like barrels, and spars, I thought that it was also evocative of the 2013 Burning Man theme, Cargo Cult. Even more cool, he had guys with a genny / laptop / projector, putting animated totem-pole faces on it, up till the fire conclave. I took perimeter guard, since that's what I do. Really easy when you've got a big circular plow-zone: "Hi, come on over, the safe area is this side of the plow drift." Even cooler, he spun fire in the Conclave, then used his torches to light the Effigy.
Hung out in Habitat for the most part, rest of the evening. The V-Spot was chilly, Bike Camp was occupied, and the Sweat Lodge would have swallowed me up if I'd gone in. Wound up finishing my gear-up in Man Camp, then off to bed.
0530 Sunday morning, was presented with a test. CONDITION: space heater out, tank empty, bladder full. Task: Change tanks and relight burner. Task: Pee Standard: Change tank, relight burner, before pissing myself. Standard: Jump out back of tent, make yellow snow, get back in front of burner before freezing dick off. Evaluation: Tank change and re-light accomplished in <1 minute. Arrived back in front of burner, after pee mission, with all appendages unfrozen. Grade: Pass.
My radio finally died, so I went to the Barn, to get a fresh one. Got some pics of Kevin's ZombieTrac -- a Geo Tracker with the wheels replaced by treads. I also got to play a bit of Riskee Ball with the setup that Totenkitten had put by the barn. A lot of Ten Pint Men packed out on Sunday, leaving me with one campmate who's Frostburn staff. Our campmate J left his wooden noggin again. Hopefully this year we'll get it back to him before the last day of Pennsic.
Sunday evening: I was going to close the Temple 3 hours before ignition, to prep for the Burn. Rather, I broadcast a last call at 1600, then actually started burn prep at 1800. Three fire lays equidistant around the hexagonal structure. A nuclear starter at the bottom, then scrap from the temple board cutouts, marinated all day in tiki-torch oil. Finally, a partial bottle of tiki oil mixed with a quart of white gas, and split into the three accelerant containers for inclusion in the three fire lays. On the fire lay that had been the altar, I placed the notebooks, and envelopes of feelings given to me by some friends. At 1900, I lit the flares for the Burn.
Back up to Habitat, the highlight of which was singing karaoke in the V-Spot. I did shots of water rather than Kamikazes, but then I didn't need to do any recreational substances in order to sing some Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin (Paranoid and Black Dog, respectively).
Monday, packing out. Combine ADD with things like defrosting a frozen stew pot, helping others to pack, checking for MOOP, and so foth, and I was one of the last ones out (like, 1700). I, however, unlike many others, drove out without needing a tow. I also had to deal with a pile of ice in my driver's seat. I thought, "WTF? I did NOT leave a door or window open in the car last night." Then, I saw the Monster drink can lying on its side. Pointing at the driver's door. With its top blown off by the freezing beverage. In all, four cans were sacrificed to the Fire Gods and turned to aluminum oxide.
Gas-and-bladder stop in Brookville, with dinner being a Sheetz sub. Rolled down 36 to 119 to Greensburg where I'd reserved a motel room. Sleep deprivation kicked in, so I chugged a Monster and a couple of 5-Hour shots on the way. Checked into the motel, and crashed hard. Monday morning, up, out, and scrub a last parting shot of Wintry Mix from the car before heading home.
All in all, a great Burn.
[DW Original]