start panoramas art cars theme camps bicycles Camp Know-It-All colorful characters Crazy Dante's Used Soul Emporium day-trippers dust fashion show Lamplighters denizens of the dust Me Diana is Dead
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Burning Man 1997: Dust of the Playa
There is weather on the playa, lots of it. The Black Rock Desert is a large wind tunnel. The daily cycle of burning hot sun and cool (dare I say it? cold) evenings are witness to incredible wind storms which push and pull plumes of dust, grit, sand, and particulate of all types through camp at the most inopportune moments.
This year we saw several funnel clouds - something like a tornado being formed - some very close to camp. One very large one drove through the middle of our encampment, although we had twenty seconds of warning. Some of us dove into the vans for cover, but two of us (yes, I was one of the foolhardy ones) were hell-bent on staying out and experiencing such a thing first-hand.
The funnel was quiet, and there really was a still area in the center. It took a few seconds for the funnel to march past us and toward the Irrational Geographic camp, next to ours. As the dust was settling around our ears (and on my VW Fox) and in our eyes we saw the debris of camps lift, a collection of lightweight things that weren't tied down.
It took a few gulps of water to get the playa dust out of my mouth.
Hey, it must be time for the playa fashion show.
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