Saturday, August 23rd, 2025 — Day Two: Broken on Arrival
No sleep. No energy. I was already wrecked.
We managed a barebones camp—carport and two tents—but when I crawled into our shift pod, I couldn’t sleep. Ever been so tired you can’t sleep? That was me. Delirious. Broken. Then the sun rose and the heat hit—100 degrees in a tin can tent. Forget sleep.
Luckily, C (one of our group) had an RV with AC. I laid on his bed for 30 miraculous minutes of true sleep before the unit died. Still, those 30 minutes were salvation.
The rest of the day? Jennie and Sarah worked like soldiers. Jim tied everything down with his genius rigging. I staggered around like a zombie, useless, hating myself for not contributing. I’d heard the saying: “Burning Man will break you, then bless you.” Well, it broke me before it blessed me.
By afternoon I was regaining a little strength—when the wind storm hit.
The wind storm the world would later hear about on the news.
I stood in the carport when the dust came like a wall. Goggles on, mask tight. Then a crash—Chuck’s shade structure ripped free and slammed into our carport, shredding the roof open. I stared up into the maelstrom. I felt like Mark Watney on Mars. Metal bars bent like toys. Jennie and Jim were outside in the chaos; if those bars had hit them, they’d be dead.
The whiteout was total. Jennie vanished into the storm. For a terrifying moment, I thought she was gone—swallowed by the Playa. I lunged blindly, grabbing at her shirt, losing her again. By sheer luck she found her way to the truck. I dove in, followed by Jim and Sarah. The truck rocked violently in the gale, dust hammering us for two hours. Zero visibility.
It was insane. Terrifying. And, in a twisted way… exhilarating. Life-or-death in the middle of nowhere. My blood was awake in a way daily life rarely offers.
When the storm eased, we crawled out to assess. The camp was wrecked. Dust everywhere. Our tent was filled with sand. We ended up sleeping on Sarah and Jim’s floor that night.
➡️ Tomorrow: Mud, rain, Pho, and the strange intimacy of surviving together.
#BurningMan2025 #SacredRebel #FuckYourBurn #DustStormDiaries #SacredMasculine #LifeAndDeathMoments #PlayaStrong #JennieAndJason