There is a scene in an old movie where an ordinary guy (played by John Denver) is visited by God, (played by George Burns) and is totally overwhelmed. “What do I do?” The fellow asks. “Trying shaving,” God says. “When you don’t feel normal, do something normal. It helps.”
So, feeling slightly overwhelmed after my big adventure of SOAK, I came home and … made pizza.
Auntie Bridgett bought some cauliflower-based gluten free pizza crusts at Trader Joe’s and we’ve been trying them out. Also, I had seen beautiful pizzas on the internet, where toppings looked like flowers.
We each have particular tastes in pizzas, so these were accommodated. An olive oil base, thinly sliced onions, jarred chopped garlic, mozzarella and goat cheese made for a mighty tasty pizza. My half got a sprinkling of pancetta.
Ten minutes in the 425 degree oven, and voila! Tasty, pungent, homemade, gluten free pizza. SO GOOD!
The SOAK adventure was great, but it’s nice to cook in my own kitchen again.
Well, after the Major Structure Burn, my phone ran out of juice. I tried to get it charged at several places, but the chargers were either not effective or busy, and there was too much other fun stuff to do.
I apologize for not having any pictures for Sunday or the Temple Burn, which was lovely, quiet, and contemplative.
As my new friend Aryn said, it’s like the difference between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Celebration as opposed to Reflection. The Temple, as you can see in the only picture I have of it, was a delicate wooden structure. Folks used markers to write wishes, or regrets, or remembrances of loved ones, which will all go up in smoke and be released Sunday night.
But this brings me to the last Principle… Leave no trace. How were 3,000 people with all their camping baggage, and two major fires, not going to leave a whopping big trace?
As to the people and their stuff, there is a special Burner word. MOOP. It stands for Material Out of Place and means anything that doesn’t belong in the environment. Bits of paper, plastic, glass, sequins (a real concern here), and even soapy water.
These are managed in different ways. The soapy water (or any water that isn’t drunk) goes into large ‘grey water’ tanks that are hauled out at the end of the festival. Porta Potties, of course, hold all our poop and such, and are cleaned during the festival and hauled out at the end.
MOOP crews of campers clean up their own camps, going inch by inch ( I was down with my nose to the ground, since my eyes aren’t fabulous) to check for anything that doesn’t belong. As well as our own Kind Bar wrappers, we found bottle caps that were old and rusty, which means they had been there for quite a while. It felt good to make the site better than when we found it! All the MOOP was taken away, to be recycled or thrown away in our home trash cans.
And, when everyone has gone, there will be another crew of MOOP specialists who come sweep for whatever we missed.
Then there is the Burns. Two structures, put together with hundreds of screws, and burning to the ground. How do we mend those scars in the field?
Cousin Jasper explained it to me. After the Burns are out and cold, crews go over the areas with strong magnets that look like those metal detectors that treasure hunters use. These lift the screws out of the ashes! The area is raked and searched several times to get all the metal out.
Then the ground is soaked and native grass seed spread on, to make sure the area grows back the way it was.
I love so many things about SOAK and the Ten Principles. Responsibility, environmentalism, and the ability to be your best, most creative self. Of course no event is perfect, but the SOAK crew is always trying to make it better.
One of the drawbacks for me personally is that sometimes, other people being their best selves is noisy, and I like quiet. But, like in every human activity, compromise and cooperation step in and help.
I don’t know if I will have another SOAK, but I’m sure glad I did this one!
Saturday is a big day at SOAK, the day of the Major Structure burn. I have showed you this structure, that thing that looks like a wooden light house. There are stairs inside, and I actually went up!
The views were wide and high, but the gusting winds encouraged me to head on down.
By the evening, I had figured out that a million pictures weren’t going to capture my experience of SOAK, and I took fewer and fewer. But that evening, with everyone in costume and sitting in The High Meadow waiting for the Burn, I asked Jasper, Kestrel, and their Troupe to sit for a portrait.
Some pictures are worth posing for!
The Burn was delayed several times, as the wind kept gusting, creating a danger of the fire spreading. Firefighters soaked the ground between the structure and the fire line, and people were stationed on the hill to look for sparks.
I was waved down to a seat in the front by a ranger named Leeway, who (like lots of other folks here) is a friend of Katie’s. The fire dancers came out and put on a thrilling, if slightly scary, show.
And then, at 11:28 p.m., the thermite was set off and the Burn began.
You could tell which job people had by which way they were looking. The firefighters never took their eyes off the tower, to make sure the fire didn’t get loose into the area. The Rangers never took their eyes off the crowd, to make sure no one acted in ways that were unsafe around fire.
The tower burned for about a half hour, letting the chilly crowd get warm. We were all warming ourselves in the same fire, becoming, in a way, members of the same tribe.
This felt like all of the Principles coming into play at the same time.
*Radical Self-Reliance, because everything had been brought up by the burners.
*Gifting and Communal Effort from the folks who built and monitored the fire for the rest of us.
*Immediacy, in our total absorption in the moments of the Burn.
*Decommodification, because it was offered to all of us for free. Also, no one was advertising anything with it.
*Consent, because there were those who chose not to be at the Burn, and everyone was free to experience it at their own comfort level.
*Radical Inclusion and Participation, because there was plenty of room for the almost 3,000 people to see. Also, all of our presence made up the experience.
*Radical Self-Expression, in the creation and then destruction of one’s creation.
*Civic Responsibility, in the action as of fire fighters, Rangers, and the whole crowd, keeping everyone safe. Also, the correct local fire permits and such were given, so the Burn is also good citizens to the “outside”.
I will tell you about the last Principle tomorrow, as we move toward out last day at SOAK 2024.
Friday morning at SOAK 2024 dawned warmer and I went for a walkabout with some of my campmates at Limbo Lounge. Following the Principle of Consent, I won’t include their photos here because I forgot to ask permission.
As I walked around, I was surprised by how few cameras I saw. With all this incredible eye candy about, why was no one taking pictures?
I asked a lady who was setting up her camp about this. She explained The Principle of Immediacy, of being in the moment. When you are chatting or cooking or enjoying, putting a camera between you and your subject can spoil that special moment. This made sense to me, and I stopped taking so many pictures, just enough to help my slippery memory be able to relive these days and the magic of stretching out in a sunny hammock.
On one of my walkabouts, I met a fellow named CJ. He asked me if I was sleeping well in all this lovely mountain air, and I confessed that I hadn’t been able to get warm enough to sleep very comfortably. He smiled, walked to his tent, and came back with a fluffy leopard print onesie, like giant baby pajamas with a hood. He put it into my hands.
“How can I thank you?” I smiled, overwhelmed at this gift. “You just did,” he said. “I brought it to give it away, and now it’s yours.” The Principle of Gifting had come home to roost. Part of the charm of this place is intentionally bringing or making things to give away. Not to sell or trade, but simply to gift for the joy of giving.
I regret, just a little, that I didn’t take CJ’s picture. But it would have gotten in the way.
Embracing my new pajamas as well as a new understanding, I walked back to camp and made a few circuits of neighborhood, handing out the four dozen chocolate chip cookies I had made, to bring, to give away.
Katie, Douglas, and I walked out to the Gate with Kestrel for her Gayte shift (everyone has a job to contribute to the festival, according to the Principle of Civic Responsibility).
After some confusion, we had snacks with some lovely people at camp Misbehavin’ and headed back to our camp. We met a dear friend of Katie’s, who knows Kestrel is a textile artist and had brought a new weaving craft to teach her. The two of them hunkered down and had a craft festival of their own, right there by the Cosmic Messenger’s feet.
We got back to camp worn out and happy, and I spent quite a long time just laying in my borrowed tent, listening to the sounds of the camp and appreciating where I was.
Later that evening, Kestrel and I got to make the long walk around the camp in our fancy jellyfish hats! The dark, and the uneven ground, made walking a challenge. But so much fun! Folks would holler “I love your hat!” from their camp chairs, and we even ran into a swarm of about 20 others people in umbrella -type jellyfish costumes, and danced along with them for a while.
I felt like we were really part of the festival, not just visitors. After midnight, we made our way back to the tents. I fell asleep, Kestrel took off to find her Troupe.
My first morning at SOAK, I woke up at 5 a.m. The campground was still mostly empty and totally silent. I pulled on my shoes (I had slept in most of my clothes) and went out to see what I could see.
The Tyge Valley is nestled below these incredible basalt buttes, remnants of a volcanic past. The buttes above and the river below, with all the rocky cliffs in between, caught the early light in a magical way. I took deep breaths and let the beauty and peace fill me up.
Walking back toward camp, I got my first look at some of the art and humor of SOAK, and figured we were going to get along just fine. Some of the signs included topics I don’t want to include here, but be assured that the Principle of Radical Self-Expression was on full display.
Kestrel and I had both made jellyfish hats to wear as our contribution to the festival. Kestrel wore hers during the day, but mine was mostly for night wear.
One of the Ten Principles is Radical Inclusion and Participation. We are both allowed and expected to not just SEE the festival, but to BE the festival. Living by the same principle, Auntie Katie and Douglas wandered the grounds some time every day, serenading folks who could sing along with their ukuleles. It is fun to be in all the games.
During the day I walked around with Kestrel and met some jellyfish friends and enjoyed some fresh-made pasta. Only ice is for sale at SOAK, because of the machinery needed to maintain it. Everything else, food, clothes, trinkets, anything on offer, is freely given. This reflects the Principles of Decommodofication and Gifting.
We found some out-of this-world installations that mirrored the clouds.
The main structure, which will be burned Saturday night, was getting its finishing touches. Following the Principle of Communal Effort, it takes many skilled hands to create this wonderful thing. It will be sturdy enough to climb on once it’s done.
By sundown, I had walked miles and miles around the camp, talked to dozens of nice folks, and my eyes and heart were full. It was time to tuck in.
I am getting so excited about my SOAK adventure! Camping out was one of the great joys of my childhood, but I haven’t done it for about 30 years. The list of what I need to take keeps getting longer… snack bars, bug spray, batteries for flashlights, and, as a big change from my other camping experiences, the all-important jellyfish hat.
And, since there will be no internet and only limited electricity, I will need a Journal to record everything so I can tell you about it when I get back.
I want the Journal to reflect the colors of the SOAK “Electric Ocean” theme poster, so I dug into my collage boxes and found some good candidates.
I always start off with more bits than I need, winnowing it down as I get fussier about what goes with what.
I like the bird head at the top, but is that chunk of gold too much? Is it too jumbled? Do I need a jellyfish?
It got better as I went, and when it was just right, I glued it down. I even found the jellyfish, right there in front of me!
I thought it needed some gold dots on the top, to tie in with the bottom, so I borrowed Auntie Bridgett’s gold Posca marker.
I also have some leftover colored papers to take along with me, to add into the Journal as I go along. I will ‘show’ you all about my SOAK experience when I come to visit!
It is just a few days until I head off to SOAK, the regional Burning Man event, with Auntie Katie and the Cousins. There is a lot to get ready!
First, I have volunteered to buy juices and mixers for the Limbo Lounge Tiki Bar that will be near our camp. I will get reimbursed, I just needed to pick them up and get them to Auntie Katie’s house for storage. I drafted Auntie Bridgett to drive.
The Chef’s Store had everything we needed at pretty good prices. It is huge and full of all sorts of goodies. We will be back for Halloween candy!
Still, seven and a half gallons of pineapple juice is a lot to deal with!
Another chore that needed doing was mending the camp chairs. Since Katie uses them at Burning Man and SOAK, they get a lot of hard use. Fortunately, she has lots of cool patches that are perfect for, well, patching. I used the heaviest thread I own, doubled up.
The patches all have a sense of humor, as well.
Along with shopping and mending, I am finding all my own gear. My old recess whistle will come in handy, as well as the pocket knife Great Grandpa Lowell gave me years ago. I am sure having fun getting into camping mode!
Mother’s Day Sunday started slow here in Portland. Auntie Bridgett, Mouse and I spent some quality time in the couch, studying language and doing puzzles. Doesn’t Mousie look pretty on the new quilt?
I walked down to Auntie Katie’s, and we had some time together. Her cat Maggie and I helped her hang a newly framed picture. Maggie was so interested!!
We all did some planning for our upcoming SOAK camping adventure, and Kes and Maggie had a good snuggle.
We all enjoyed Speilman’s bagels for lunch, and then I headed home. The roses in the South Rose Garden of Ladd’s are just starting to open up. It’s going to be a pretty summer!
Dear Liza 