I have this vague memory:

Burning Man 2005, Sunday night.

The temple has burned. We show up at DDI and haul out the projector and sound system, track down some 30-weight for the generator, and get things going. To our surprise, there are people camped at our gate, waiting to play. I don't know how long they've been there.

Only, the wind is high. The pilots won't stay lit. When they do, flamethrower ignition is... poor. It stays like this all night. We hang out in our jumpsuits, playing DDR, talking with friends, waiting for the wind to die.

I've come from one of the most insane two day periods of my life, having not slept since hours before the Man burned. On some level, I am very happy about this. I feel awake.

At some point, I walk some friends around the game, explaining how all the subsystems work, realizing once again what a complicated machine we've built. "Here are the towers that connect the air hose to the player. Here's the pressure switch that detects an lack of airflow. This is the main player effect shutoff valve. See how, with the system disarmed, this buzzer sounds? This is the main control electronics board. I don't know how it works. These are display effect accumulators. The pad arrows are sheets of 1/4" polycarbonate. There are 3/4" propane hoses buried here and here, feeding the player effect manifolds..."

It was strange, to wander around the site, to remember the whole months-long process through my sleep-deprived haze. My sweater sleeves sticking out of my jumpsuit, talking quickly and in a somewhat unfamiliar voice.

I recall, distantly, that in the group following me was a woman with a video camera. I didn't recognize her, but someone later mentioned that she might've been camped with/near Crashland Inn. I would really, really love to see that tape.