We Break in With this Special News Report: Dust Storm 2007

On Wednesday and Thursday, we got hit with these fabulous dust storms. Yes, I said fabulous. Fortunately, most of us were at camp when the first one hit so we were able to put things away and zip things up. Though the packaging did swear by it, I was at first a little worried that $39.99 could not pay for a sturdy tent – so I stood by mine trying to hold up the frame. After 15 minutes or so, I saw myself from an outside pair of eyes and realized how ridiculous I looked, especially since all of my bins were in the tent. With all of the stuff I brought, it would have taken a tornado to move anything I owned.
So the next best thing to do? Go out and explore, of course! Chris, Tim and I jumped on our bikes and headed out…slowly. We couldn’t see each other if we got too far apart. We managed to stay together and ended up all the way at the opposite end from our camp, over at The Deep End.

As described in a SF Chronicle article, The Deep End is the dawn-til-dusk rave with an open bar and a dance floor that covers one acre of dusty, cracked earth. In 2005, the Deep End camp brought 800 bags of ice, 200 cases of Red Bull, 8- cases of liquor and a 75,000-watt sound system. With no cover charges or bar tabs, you better believe that’s going to be expensive…and that it is. Their bills totalled $37,000 then. No decimal mistake on that one. With 2007 being an attendance record-breaking year, those numbers had to be crazy higher this year. And when you’re there, you feel how true that is because the 3 hot bartenders tending keep behind the saloon-style doors blend drinks non-stop. It seems like their supply is endless. First, they throw in ice, then the vodka. Next in are the Red Bull and the fresh fruit of their choice – which could be anything from watermelon to bananas to cantalope. Frappe, chop, blend…away the blades spin. Seconds later, frothy cold goodness is being poured into every thirsty cup propped on the bar. Then it starts all over almost immediately. How do they pay for this? Apparently fundraisers. I may need to fly to SF just to attend one of these and offer up my share.

We got to the Deep End and it was busy. Even in the middle of the dust storm, it was busy. We sidled up to the bar and Tim got his much desired beer, which was the one that bounced off my forehead as it was thrown into the crowd. Apparently since I was still standing with a bruiseless-bump on my noggin, Tim felt it was fine to enjoy the Heineken without much hesitation. Okay, so that is only the inside joke of what happened but I’m quite sure if he was closer to me (the beer) when it happened…he would have totally picked up the can and popped its top to quench his thirst. He had been craving beer since the beginning of the week. Since I was still conscious, we headed to the dance floor. The wind picked up again dust started swirling all around us.

Did anyone yelp and run for cover?
Nope.

Did anyone roll their eyes and pack up to go?
Nope.

Everyone just strapped on their sand goggles and pulled up their face masks and kept on dancing. That PLUS the Deep End just got busier. How fabulous is that?! No bitching, no moaning, no hiding in an RV until the storm passed….just people accepting and adapting.

It was the same way the next day at Center Camp, Tim, Cassy and I were just hanging out… waiting for a little Bring It On Cheer o’ Rama to start. Center Camp was packed as usual with jugglers, open mic performers, body-painters, coffee line standers, meditators, artists, musicians, strangers meeting strangers, etc. The day was calm but almost as soon as the cheersquad started, in a span of 3 minutes, a massive dust storm swept in without warning. Center Camp has an open center in it’s tent and the dust just swooped in like someone flipped the reverse switch on a vacuum cleaner. Think of a vibrant bazaar streamed in brightly patterned fabric; sight, sound and energy creating texture like a kaleidoscope — then all of a sudden, every dynamically-colored spec is covered in a thick layer of playa dust. Apparently, this was the most severe dust storm BRC had seen in years.

But besides extra layer of dust covering each of our bodies and the wind blowing in more and more, everything else was status quo. The cheerleaders kept cheering, meditators meditating, waiters waiting, strangers meeting…and so on. Oh wait, there was the collective donning of goggles and masks.