Desert Crawling

My previous post resulted from an accident of crawling about the desert via satellite photo. I went to Gerlach and saw the dragster and went, whoa. But why did I go to Gerlach? To find this place.

Permaburn is some guy's idea of making a permanent Burn, a Black Rock City that does not evaporate in the September sun but pulsates all year long. Personally I think he's nuts. BRC's gift economy is not viable outside of Burn Week. People save up their resources all year long to blow it on one great week-long spirit quest and bacchanal. After that, it's back to the grindstone of real life and prepare for next year.

Of course, what he really has in mind is a commune of some sort, except less communistic and more individualistic. Maybe he has a viable vision, I don't know. It wouldn't work for me. Especially in winter. But if a few hundred well-heeled and burn-hip yuppies can build summer cabins and create a space of love and beads and nightlights and flame bikes for a few months out of each year, fine. Color me skeptical, but fine. What do you think?