Decompression

It’s been two weeks since Burning Man. When I returned, I thought it was so strange to wash my hands. Waking up as scheduled, getting to places on time, going through the work day, checking my Blackberry…all of that was fine. But I’d stand there in the women’s restroom at work or in my own bathroom at home, and think how odd it was to be washing my hands with soap and running water. That was the toughest adjustment.

Back there, it’s wipies and Purell. Of course there are times that you’ll wash your hands, but there are no faucets, no running water.

Two weeks later and I’m still not completely done putting away my Burning Man gear. I have crap in the garage. I offloaded a bunch of stuff with my parents. God bless them. I have a couple things lent to me that I need to return. Speaking of returns, I returned over $150 worth of stuff at Target. I always get more than I need, dust off whatever I don’t use or didn’t bring because I was trying to downsize, then return everything with my highly-organized (I stuff everything into a folder marked ‘receipts’) receipt system. Back went the oversized ice chest, batteries, locks, the fleece blanket that I never even brought to the playa, unopened food items.

I still have yet to send my pictures out. I have everything downloaded into an Ofoto album, but I have to go through and delete the X-rated stuff. Hehe. Really it’s not that bad. The first night I was there, a camp gave out hot pink thong underwear with a Burning Man logo imprinted on the front. That was prized schwag–even guys were begging for a pair. Anyhow, the camp gave me one only if I promised to wear it the next day and come back around to show them…which I did and someone snapped a picture of me. That picture needs to be deleted.

For anyone who reads my blog, this has been a hellish week for me. Sorry if I haven’t return emails / phone calls. I am swimming in lists of things I need to do: pay bills and parking tickets, and write, write, write. I’m taking a writing class. 500 words a day? I am stressed out! It’s supposed to force us to write–no matter how good or bad. Just get the thoughts onto the page. So if i’m not writing in my blog, believe me, I’m writing something, somewhere…in my handy notebook I now tote with me wherever I go.

I know I have more stuff to say about Burning Man, but I have to write essays for my class tomorrow and I’m way behind.