BM2K7 Playa ROM Playa Prologue First Day A Busy Day The Man Burns Early Rebuilding the Man A Very Full Night and Day Kidsville Happenings The Man Burns The Temple of Forgivenesss Burns Return to the Default World Decompression
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Burning Man 2007: Rebuilding the Man
29 September 2007
The plans for the Man having arrived back in Black Rock City, and the materials having been gathered under the pavilion, the rebuilding crew started their work. Some time after dusk they took their first break and Khaki asked for the most senior Dirt Ranger on comm to head over to the Man to suss out the security needs for the evening.
Just out of the commissary, full of calories, I was able to jump right in and do my bit. We had four or five Rangers keeping a perimeter several hundred feet away from the Man and chatting with our citizenry.
I radioed when all was set and took up my position under the pavilion, right by the Man-in-progress. Here I'll stay for about 28 hours, until after Big Dave organizes the mid-morning goings-on and Spoon cooks us a delicious breakfast.
The night isn't quiet, as is typical at Burning Man, but here under the partially-burnt pavilion it's eerily devoid of movement. The few exceedingly curious participants who want to touch or take parts of the Man are rebuffed, but that and pouring coffee and eating macaroons - thanks again DPW - are the stuff of this detail.
Editing this, much later, I realize it's hard to convey the urgency and paranoia across and through all levels of the infrastructure: would someone try to finish or copy-cat the arson? Were the Rangers doing enough to protect the building site? I had visits by all sorts of names-we-all-know, checking in. (It was all respectful, and hushed, like visitors to a funeral.) I, for my part, wasn't going to be more than a few feet away from the Man or the tools left out for the next shift.
Until daybreak, this was pretty much my view. When not strolling the inner perimeter, just outside the green pavilion tent, I was sitting next to the now-recognisable new parts.
Come morning Ranger Bob arrives with his camera, recording the progress and the art.
Here's a view of the burnt pavilion, where embers from the scortched Man fell into the shade structure. The crowds were standing underneath this spot when the arson happened.
With the sun climbing higher over the mountains that rim the playa, and strong shadows starting to be cast, the DPW (Department of Public Works) rebuild crew arrives. The space comes alive with conversation and power tools.
Whatever is done to one of the Man's legs must also be done to a mirror image.
Sometime after noon, a very hot day spent at the Man over, I head back to camp for some sleep and family time. Later in the day, actually late in the evening, I head out for another swing and grave shift. I pass this fire-dancer in Kidsville as I head to Ranger HQ.
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