This was my fourth Burn. It's hard to get to, hotter than Hell, but still a great pleasure and learning experience. While its creativity is like no place on earth,
( mutant vehicle photo by John Curley)
the eight-day city also teaches us better ways to live.
Everyone gets along. Self-reliance and sharing are a big deal. There's nothing for sale and no advertising. Imagine a Super Bowl without the ads.
Burners give things away expecting nothing in return. In the past I've been given pendants, beer, and foot massages. In addition there was pizza, pickles, and a dance lesson.The main giveaways though are friendship and love.
Smiles and hugs come easily in this temporary town. It's not perfect but it feels safe. Self-policing by volunteer hippie rangers take care of the problems that rarely occur.
Self-expression is encouraged, you can do almost anything you want. Ride a bike naked? No problem. After seeing the first one you take little notice of the others.
Six congressmen and 18 mayors visited Burn '19. I was told that they went away pleased, amazed that an instant city of 80,000 could live in harmony. If any of them took the naked bike challenge I didn't see it. No one wants to see Orrin Hatch in the buff.
What we call Black Rock City (it's in Nevada's Black Rock Desert) inspires people to bring out their best and to share it with others. For some, it might be walking with a colorful "Free Hugs" sign.
Henry Chang shared his extravagant dune buggies imported from Las Vegas.
Duane Flatmo has been bringing his 25-foot octopus, "El Pulpo Mechanico" to the desert since 2011. The crowd goes crazy as its waving tentacles belch fire and loud music. Either one can knock you down.
Pulpo photos by John Curley
watch sweating gladiators dual with padded weapons in the Thunderdome.
I marveled at Ben Lanholz's 300-pound boulders suspended in space. His creation would be roped off in any other place but here we were 
(Photo by John Curly)
(Photo by John Curly)
allowed to climb it. No one fell while I stopped by.
You can take all kinds of extraordinary risks, swing from ropes as you fight in the Thunderdome, play Ultimate Dodgeball, or climb monkey bars 40-feet high. A waiver for injury (or death) is printed on each of the $500 tickets. As in the outside world, people doing dangerous things sometimes get hurt.
Dylan and Ian met actor/comedian Nigel Rajaratham who shared jokes and Indian folk tales.
New Orlean's Shakespeare answered questions.
We all come together on the last two nights for the solemn Temple Burn and festive incineration of The Man. Hundreds of people work for months to design and build these fantastic structures.
Talented David Best creates most of the Burn's temples. During the week they are filled with memorials of loved ones who have died. Each year's temple expires as well, in flame, on Sunday night.
Ten hours after The Man fell we watched the sun rise on the remaining hardware and embers. With pockets of hot coals here and there people were cooking sausages, baked potatoes, and coffee. In the grand desert tradition these treats were shared with everyone.
This drowsy pirate passed out French bread and invited us to dip into his fondue pot.
From the ashes we rise at Burning Man.
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You might want to look at a 3-minute video of this year's art. You can open the link at,
https://youtu.be/7aARVwTDhd4?list=PL206871873B1C323B
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