and a week later...

HMMM, where to start...

I'm 32 now.
I had one of the best weekends ever.
I'm STILL tired from it!  The weekend, not the fact I'm 32...I hope.

Last weekend I attended Moose Man.  WHAT MAN!?  WHO!?  you read right, Moose Man.  I seem to have fallen into a community.  Thanks to my friend Chico, who married Kitty, a 'burner'.
How do I even start to explain this thing I've fallen into, and fallen in love with?  first, go here.  (this is a pretty great video too...)This explains Burning Man...don't get lost...come back to me!  I've never been.  nor do I want to go.  I don't like the idea of being in the desert for over a week.  The *concept*  amazing.  (most of) The people/community, amazing.
So, Moose Man is a regional burn.  Where burners and like minded people from Toronto and surrounding communities get together for a weekend of fun in the northern Ontario woods.  It is a volunteer run event.  I happened to be on of the volunteers.  I was performance lead. 
Wait...where was I?
Right...Chico, Kitty, the Toronto Burning Man community, my amazing weekend.
That I still can't articulate.

I sang, I danced in the woods.  I stayed up all (most all) night.  Have you ever danced to an amazing DJ under a forest canopy surrounded by people dancing as...furiously passionate as you?  I am, as a general rule, not a person who parties.  I go to bed at 9:30pm, I don't drink, smoke or do drugs, I'd rather go to a picnic than party every weekend.  I have about 2 exceptions, and both are 'burner' events.

All weekend I was surrounded by....love.  It sounds pretty cheesy, and hippy.  But everyone was so open, and generous.  Full of life.

I *did* do mushrooms for the first time since I was 17.  And that is only the second time ever!  I had an amazing night with my friend Ms. Tuesday.  We danced and LAUGHED.  We had SO MUCH FUN.  The second night I was sober.  The reason I don't (generally) do drugs is because I don't feel I need them to have a good time.  My second experience with mushrooms showed me that it was fun, and...opening I suppose.  My sober night showed me I really didn't need them to really let go.  I enjoyed my time dancing MORE sober.  I got high on the DJ's vibe (she was enjoying herself so very much, I was so proud of her!), on the energy of the people around me.

I want to be back in the woods.  Dancing like no one is watching.


We burned an effigy.  My friend Drake built it all summer.  We had Dixon playing, and Fire spinners spinning, and Leslie  dancing.  It was...awe inspiring.  Here is a video my friend shot:

My friend Franklin built the "Temple of Passage" where we performed.  We burned that too.  Some of us wrote sentiments on it...I burned my set list from the show I put on the night before.  I was so stressed, and it turned out so well...I needed to let it go.

I hope to go next year.  I hope that J can come too.

Damn I wanna dance.