Scout
05-25-2006, 10:19 AM
The greatest gift I received at Burning Man is getting in contact with my friend Dave (You know him here as ibdave). Dave and I graduated high school together in 1977. (Yes, we are old) Dave was one of the 2 people I wanted to see at my 20 year high school reunion, but he wasn’t there. In 2001 I tracked Dave down and gave him a call. Dave wasn’t home, but I did talk to his wife Cindy (Cindy-Lou-Whoo). She remembered me even though it had been 22 years since we had last spoke. She told me she would have him call me when he got home. I got off the phone relieved that I was done, knowing that he would never call me back. What the hell was I thinking calling someone after 22 years? About 4 hours later my phone rings. I answer and it’s Dave. The second I heard his voice I knew why I had called. I loved and missed Dave dearly. What took me so long to call him?
Asking him what he had been doing since the last forever I had seen him he told me about his 2 kids, job and Burning Man. At this point Dave’s and my story are really different. Dave will say, "There is this thing I do every year called Burning Man and it’s not for everyone." What I heard is, “Praise the playa dust-a!!!” “There is no heaven-a, there is no hell-a, there is only-a Burning Man-a!!!” “And it’s not for everyone.”
I got off the phone, talked to my wife, got on line and purchased a ticket.
Dave was a little surprised when I called him back a couple of weeks later telling him I was going. We made arrangements to meet. He was going to put up a sign that would tell me where his camp was located on the bulletin board at Center Camp.
I got to the burn on the Saturday before the burn started. I setup my camp and went out to work on the Mausoleum. That night I rode my bike around. I was in love. That night while I was trying to sleep I could hear a car driving around with a megaphone saying in an echo, “Blowjob, blowjob, blowjob!” This was going to be fun.
The next afternoon I set out to find Dave’s camp. I found the sign. ZAP 3:45AND SOLDGER. (Zap is a nickname from high school) I quickly found the camp and asked if there was a guy named Dave here. They said Yes and there he was. It was great seeing Dave after all this time. I was introduced to the group. I spent most the afternoon helping the camp set up. After a time Richie one of the camp mates told me, “You should move your camp over here.” I looked to Dave to see if it was OK, since it was his camp and I didn’t want to barge in on him. It was then explained to me why I had not been invited in the camp in the first place. Dave and I had grown up in Walla Walla Washington. (You can’t get any more red neck and conservative than that in Washington.) Most of Dave’s camp is made of gay men and Dave didn’t know how I would react to a camp full of naked gay men. It had been 22 years since he knew me and he wanted to protect his campmates. I got it. I was happy that Dave protected his campmates like this and I was happier to be invited in.
That was in 2001. I went back in 2002 and 2004 and am coming back in 2006. Only this year I’m taking my best friend Ben (who I have known for longer than forever) with me. The fun part is that Ben and Dave knew each other way back when and now they are in contact with each other again.
I can’t ever describe what it’s like having Dave back in my life. It’s not only Dave, but Cindy and all of my crazy campmates. It’s my family in the Desert.
Scout
Asking him what he had been doing since the last forever I had seen him he told me about his 2 kids, job and Burning Man. At this point Dave’s and my story are really different. Dave will say, "There is this thing I do every year called Burning Man and it’s not for everyone." What I heard is, “Praise the playa dust-a!!!” “There is no heaven-a, there is no hell-a, there is only-a Burning Man-a!!!” “And it’s not for everyone.”
I got off the phone, talked to my wife, got on line and purchased a ticket.
Dave was a little surprised when I called him back a couple of weeks later telling him I was going. We made arrangements to meet. He was going to put up a sign that would tell me where his camp was located on the bulletin board at Center Camp.
I got to the burn on the Saturday before the burn started. I setup my camp and went out to work on the Mausoleum. That night I rode my bike around. I was in love. That night while I was trying to sleep I could hear a car driving around with a megaphone saying in an echo, “Blowjob, blowjob, blowjob!” This was going to be fun.
The next afternoon I set out to find Dave’s camp. I found the sign. ZAP 3:45AND SOLDGER. (Zap is a nickname from high school) I quickly found the camp and asked if there was a guy named Dave here. They said Yes and there he was. It was great seeing Dave after all this time. I was introduced to the group. I spent most the afternoon helping the camp set up. After a time Richie one of the camp mates told me, “You should move your camp over here.” I looked to Dave to see if it was OK, since it was his camp and I didn’t want to barge in on him. It was then explained to me why I had not been invited in the camp in the first place. Dave and I had grown up in Walla Walla Washington. (You can’t get any more red neck and conservative than that in Washington.) Most of Dave’s camp is made of gay men and Dave didn’t know how I would react to a camp full of naked gay men. It had been 22 years since he knew me and he wanted to protect his campmates. I got it. I was happy that Dave protected his campmates like this and I was happier to be invited in.
That was in 2001. I went back in 2002 and 2004 and am coming back in 2006. Only this year I’m taking my best friend Ben (who I have known for longer than forever) with me. The fun part is that Ben and Dave knew each other way back when and now they are in contact with each other again.
I can’t ever describe what it’s like having Dave back in my life. It’s not only Dave, but Cindy and all of my crazy campmates. It’s my family in the Desert.
Scout