Best Gift Received

[heat]

The best gift was the feeling I got by bringing an old friend to BMan for his first time as a thank you.
The next best gift was from a tall Danger Ranger the night at the burn - we were in the front row and got talking - I let him know that have CPR training and would assist w/whatever if needed - he gave me ...........a METEORITE!!!! A 3" heavy piece of beautiful space metal that has been on my person ever since, even through several airport security checks.
And BTW - there was no "epic dust strom" this year - trust me. If any of you think we had one - you is clearly new to da playa! Welcome! Someday you'll know what I mean and experience the surreality of a true white-out (and hopefully love it like I do)!

[blyslv]

The energy, love, creativity and sweat from Vegasgirl (Terri), Kirk, Julie, Booker, Marc, and Shocrow in making the Gender Blender Bar a reality.

On Wed. dawn I was standing at the Temple of Honor bawling my eyes out in a silly cow costume when a woman approached, embraced me and whispered "we're so lucky to be here" and held me for so long. Shortly after she left another woman came and held me. That was the turning point at the Burn for me, after that everything became more magical and "burny". I let go of so much and felt so blessed. This was the morning of the people in white and some on stilts, handing out hard boiled eggs and softly chiming their wonderous bells and manifesting a palable intent to honor the sun. After I couldn't, wouldn't speak because I didn't want to break the spell. I was in the presence of something we shouldn't try to label or describe.

[theshaman]

I will mention a couple. The one that I loved more than any was the necklace I am wearing now. It was early in the morning and I was sitting on Porch Camp at Dubious and Creed, slowly waking up. I had just managed to make a cup of coffee and had just taken my first sip.

A woman on a bike rode up and asked if anyone knew where she could get a cup of coffee. We were close to center camp and I almost sent her there...but I stopped and remembered where I was. "I have a freshly brewed cup of Jamacian blue mountain coffee in my hand that you can have" I said. she got off her bike and sat down, but not before giving me a large sprig of sage with a pendant wrapped around it.

The pendant is handblown glass with a Burning man embedded inside of it. Thank you beautiful lady, I can't remember your name, but I will treasure this always.

[PJ]

...standing at the Temple of Honor bawling my eyes out in a silly cow costume...

Real cows don't cry.

[Cheesus]

The best gift I received this year was on Friday night. We'd just finished practicing the Heartbeat project, and I was feeling incredibly positive, which was a welcome change from the emotional lows I'd been dealing with for most of the week.

I wandered a bit, and sat down at a fire out on the open playa. After a few minutes of staring into the flames, I looked up and around at the other people gathered around the fire. My eyes came to rest on a beautiful woman sitting about 20 feet away, who was also looking around at whoever else was there... and our eyes just locked.

She got up and walked over to me, sat down, giggled, and next thing we knew, we were snuggling quite comfortably. After a while, we both stood up, kissed gently, and went our separate ways.

That human contact was exactly what I needed at that point, and was, without question, the best gift I received on the playa this year. Thank you Heidi (Pikia)!

[dav725]

Just when the desert seemed to be getting the best of me, there was a camp making snow cones that were refreshing and DELICIOUS.
After the burn at a camp fire met a really nice guy who gifted us with a reading from Chaucer's, "The Canterbury Tales". Beautiful to hear by a campfire and the sunrise.

[Guest]

One of those frozen treats in a long plastic tube, out at the man in the blazing sun in the hottest part of Saturday, with the ice cream truck's tune playing softly in the background
and the conversation I was engaged in by the women who sat down next to me as I nibbled on it.

[babalou]

Three new words: Glamazon: Any statuesque, glamourous, boot wearing playa mama with attitude. (ie Actiongirl, DPW hotties)

Plesbians: Straight women who dally with their sisters, but only on the playa.

Playaspora: The dispersed burners living as a minority among those in reality camp who don't "get it."

Related word= pyrospora: fire spinners adrift in a world of "safety first".

[Isotopia]

One of the better gifts I received was during the exodus from the event on Sunday. Was heading to Gerlach and some asswipe in a blue van decided to pass appx. 1/2 mile of traffic. Got to the rise and there was a pretty pissed off Nevada Highway Patrol that had pulled the van. Seeing as this very thing was the result of a fatality last year I was pretty hot as I suspect a lot of other folks were. As I crept up on the scene I rolled down my window and said in a loud enough voice "I hope this officer burns your wreckless ass - you self-absorbed prick!" At that point teh officer looked over his shoulder at me, tipped up his sunglasses and winked.

[theBrooke]

One night in the beginning of the week my camp mates and I were all talking over Tequila shots and I told them that in fact I had never had a Smore. They were shocked that someone (25 years young) could go their whole life without a Smore. Needless to say Sunday night after the temple burn we stumbled into a nice little setup providing just that ...

YUM.

[Dusty Playa Girl]

I was given the greatest gift of all....my soulmate...
i got married on the playa after only 5 days....
ask the playa and ye shall recieve......
Gemini

[Flux]

On Monday, after I'd been on the playa for a couple of hot, dusty setup days, and my hair was turning into a mass of unplanned pseudo-dreadlocks, two of my campmates (whom I'd only met a couple of days previously) gave me the most leisurely, luxurious warm-water shower bath. It was truly heavenly.

Then, my wife lovingly brushed out my hair, with liberal applications of spray-on conditioner to help remove the tangles.

Finally, another new friend gently braided beautiful yellow and orange yarn into my hair as I relaxed in the shade beneath her canopy.

This spontaneous gift from four different wonderful women was one of the nicest presents I've ever received anywhere. Many thanks and blessings to Lora, Chelle, Julie, and Kether!

[terra_incognita]

no one person specifically gave this to me but . . .

. . . through the experience as a whole i was gifted with the resurrection of my sense of humor . . .

. . . thanks everyone. it's good to have it back.

[levendis]

A 27' diametre 2 frequency EMT dome, hardware and parachute shade. Sorry I can't remember the names of the beautiful people who helped us, but Land of Enchantment camp truly and sincerely wishes to thank these wonderful souls!

At about 2:30 am, 3 miles east of Wells, NV our truck and art trailer went into the soft shoulder and flipped, scattering our gear all over the highway. We brought two domes, both of which suffered damage beyond repair in the accident. We met a first-time burner at the Four Way in Wells, who gifted us with not only a message to our awaiting burners at camp, but offered a dome we could use. Then, at the end of the festival they gave us the dome!

I also got a gooseneck for my bicycle from Skynyrd. Thanks a MILLION!

I cry as I type this. I will never forget Burning Man 2003.

[TestesInSac]

The best gift for me was a Cohiba, some cognac and time spent at Zane's camp. Most of the eplayans I met, I met there. The reason it took me a while to post this is that I couldn't decide between that and another gift, which had to be left on the playa...

[tbone]

I also got a gooseneck for my bicycle from Skynyrd. Thanks a MILLION!

I bought a dozen bikes from a police recovery auction, and then people strted giving us bikes as the burn approached. I think there were 20 on my trailer when we arrived. We gave away a lot of bike parts this year, and met some great people doing it. We had our best year ever.

Were you handing out the "NM flag with a burningman icon" patches?

Double bonus points for spelling Skynyrd correctly.

[Layne]

Wisdom about myself from some friends.
The ability to venture the playa alone.
My lungs back after being moved to quit smoking.

All the smiles, dancing bodies, and ridiculousness that the patrons
to our bar provided.

Layne

[Niacin]

A very nice newlywed couple around the corner from my camp gave me a pair of comfy sandals because they noticed I didn't bring any. Very thoughtful and kind of them.

Cheers,
Max

[Viking]

I was very pleased (touched, happy, made my heart want to burst) when some of my newer friends decided to embellish the note an ex-girlfriend left for me at my camp. They wrote about six more notes, little love notes scrawled in crayon, made to look like children wrote them, and then anonymously gave me an envelope just filled with silly little love letters and one real letter. I cherish them.

[deeohgeeman]

The first one that comes to mind is simply the unfettered kindness of the community I have adopted in the last year. I come from a large family and these people have reminded me of the best things of that early life experience. I have found my tribe. Long Love Gigsville!

2nd thing: I donated my paper mache unicorn and paper mache dragon head to the temple on Sunday.
Unicorn: honoring the magical in all of us
Dragon: honoring the predatory creatures

When it came time for the burn, I found that they had placed the unicorn up front where we could see it clearly as the temple burned, and on the upwind side so it lasted a long time. After the steeple fell, the mane caught fire, and within about 5 seconds the whole head just blazed and disappeared, disintegrating from the inside out. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I still don't know where the dragon head was, but I suspect it also burned nicely. I'm hoping to get feedback and PHOTOS on this thread:

http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?t=183

[robbidobbs]

A cast brass pendant of the Man, that was also a well designed bottle openner given to me by the sweetest Ranger you'll wanna meet, Ranger Edge.

A Tinky-Winky doll. (Long story.)

The beers, cigarettes, water, and good lovin' from all the camps that I visited while on daily Poop Patrol. This city rocks!

[girlie]

My gal Sherry and i met the sweetest couple, Gil and Lorraine, at the 24 hr. KMart in Reno. Had a great time joking around with them and chatting in the aisles. Meeting burners on the road to BRC has always a highlight of the drive for me.

So we finished in KMart, said "see ya on the playa" and brought all our purchases out to my car to begin the process of loading/reloading our gear to fit in the water. This process is always doable, but normally takes at least 1/2 hour to do properly, and probably would have taken longer since i'd no sleep the previous night and had already been driving for 10 hours straight (sherry doesn't drive). I had a pretty big headache brewing and was beginning to feel uncertain about whether or not i could handle the giant puzzle of boxes in my car.

Within minutes G & L showed up, surveyed the scene and promptly offered to bring our water up to BRC in their RV.

In situations like this i can be quite stubborn about not accepting help from folks i don't know well. But after weighing the options of more time in Reno vs. getting back on the road right away we quickly accepted their offer.

That extra time and the energy from meeting them saved my ass and got us through the last leg of our trip.

Best damn burning man gift i've ever received. Thank you Gil and Lorraine!

(oh, and to make it even better... when we went to their camp to pick up some of our water we quickly got handed fresh mohitos. can't beat that hospitality!)

[angelface]

on Sunday morning after the burn watching the sun come up out at the temple, this young woman played a gorgeous jazz ballad on a trumpet, it was the perfect soundtrack for the end of a near perfect night, and the start of a beautiful morning. It still brings tears to my eyes when I remember..

[telizas]

After almost getting run over in the white out on Sunday, going back to camp looking like abominable snow girl and being REALLY pissed off at the drivers of the art cars that nearly ran me over, Cpt. Adaquit gave me a shell necklace that *he* recieved his first year on the playa as a taxi driver with the Zebra Car. It had been his most prized BM gift and he gave it to ME. We enjoyed the Temple Burn together and cried together afterward.

[dj big E]

The best gifts i recieved was from my friends and family all coming together to fund my little adventure theyre was just no way i was going to make it this year and my friends and family especially grandma 86 years old came through they no what my friends and family in the dessert mean to me.Thanks grandma dj big "E"

[Bob]

Urm... yeah... beer.

[irishdevil]

I recieved two really awesome gifts. One was from my "neighboros" which was a dragon braclet that I hardly take off and a ring given to me by a guy from space virgins. I hardly take eihter of them off.


But the best gift was gaining a handful of new friends. That made the trip from NC wroth it.

[nymphgonebad]

my very best gift was when , the night of the burn, one of my campmates was handing out kamp krotus trinkkets - a wooden disc with an image of krotus and the initials bm 03 burned into it, with a uv reactive device welded to the back of it, worn as a necklace. i'd been busy getting painted over at the brc bodypainters guild and when i got back to camp they were all gone.

then my fiancee came up to me and said: "look, i made the very last one with my own two hands just for you"

is he not the most precious creature?

the princess

[redstar]

The day before I left for the playa (a 14 hour flight to SF) I started to get quite sick. By the time I made it to SF, and then hit the road the next day, I was not just sick but incredibly cranky. I arrived Sunday afternoon, and by Monday was still sick. I was thinking about going home.

A wonderful special friend who I met on the playa last year came looking for me Monday afternoon and proceeded to make me feel a lot better with a massage, foot rub and concern for my health. A special thanks also to the friends who plied me with teas and flu drugs as soon as I arrived from the airport in SF. I love you guys!

[Kinetic]

DJ Big E's post and gifts from his family are similar to my own.

But the best gift I have this year is one I am holding in my hand even as I type...the very last piece of glass that my best friend made. As I honored his wishes and put some in the temple burn or gave away the others, I went back to my camp and went through the packet of stuff Tallinn's wife gave me. In that packet was a note from him along with his last piece of glass. He wrote the note months earlier with the intent that if something happened to him it was to be given to me. His wife did just that, but she added her own note. The point of it is he gave me that last object...the last work of art he created while still alive. And through his foresight he was able to do it almost 2 years after his passing.

9/11 and 9/17 are deeply emotional days for me. We went through so much together. The loss hurts just as bad 2 years later as it did the morning he passed. My sidekick, best friend, and inspiration. He took care of his family, and his child, and did it well. He's gone, but certainly not forgotten.

Maybe I shouldn't be so public with this stuff but the burner community has embraced me and carried me through where even my family couldn't. So the greatest gift really is just having the opportunity to be a part of BM, of something much larger than myself. For meeting so many interesting people. There is no way I can really name a best gift then...because with Burners around, every contact, every exposure can be a gift.