Greetings friends!
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything about Regional Land. This installation takes place in Columbus, Ohio. My very own hometown. Word has it that my little brother it getting hitched, that is something I just gotta see, so I figured it would be a good time to make the pilgrimage home and see what the Ohio Burners are up to.
The drive from Charlotte to Deerfields is fairly quick. Small towns dot Hwy 74 as Phyrebolt and I caravan along. Stopping for supplies and fuel, then heading up into the mountains.
The trees start to change, less of the bright green of spring and more reds and yellows, the first buds that haven’t yet opened to make full leaves. The road goes down to two lanes and starts to make the winding incline to our destination.
Pulling up to the Owl Gates at Deerfields, Phyrebolt hops out of his trusty van and motions me to follow. He lights two sticks of incense and places a large chunk of playa in the middle of the road. Picking up a stick, he draws a line across our path and grabs my arm as we walk across it. Everything is different on the other side. Reminiscent to the year Danger Ranger brought people to the Black Rock Desert for the first time…
Before saying goodbye to Wilmington, I decided that I absolutely HAD to at least see the beach. The quick trek out was worth it and after a quick dunk of the toes into the chilly Atlantic Ocean, I was ready to head inland and towards Charlotte for a Meet n Greet with our Regional Contact, Billy “Captain Sauce” Funderburk.
The day is warm, hot even, the sun beats into the car as I cruise along Hwy 74 across the middle of North Carolina. Trees and small towns dot the road. It’s rural and quiet. A beautiful day for a drive.
Nearing Charlotte, Billy calls frequently to check in and make sure I’m on the right track. He instructs me to hop off the Hwy immedietly if I get lost and to call him. Wise words. Approaching the looming buildings of downtown Charlotte, I’m distracted, loose my place in the directions and quickly hop off and give him a call.
It’s a cloudy, rainy day in Wilmington but it’s warm. Seems the cold spell that hit the South East is finally on the way out.
I spent the morning in a locally owned cafe, curled up on comfy couch chatting with Vespa, one of the board members for Transformus, the NC Regional Burn. http://www.transformus.com/
As the rain sprinkled outside we chatted about everything from Burning Man to the different Regional events and all the amazing Regional Contacts in this part of the world. Vespa is soft spoken and on an information gathering mission. He wants to know the key players and learn about how other events are done so he can apply that knowledge to Transformus. Conversation flowed and hours passed before we realized the time and as he put it “he had to run off and be responsible”.
The drive from Columbia, SC to Wilmington, NC is all about the trees. Tree lined highway, so dense and thick you can’t tell if there is anything on the other side of them.
Always on the lookout for interesting road side attractions, I couldn’t resist stopping in Dillon, SC at “South of the Border” to refuel and find out what the heck was happening under that giant sombrero flying in the sky on the border of South and North Carolina. It was the perfect stopping point on the drive and I scored some special Southern goodies to bring back to Burning Man HQ in San Francisco.
The drive from Atlanta to Serendipity was quick and full of glorious green trees. It might be cold, but spring has definitely sprung in the South East. The color saturates everything and you can smell it in the air.
Turning off the road and onto the Serendipity property, I was instantly greeted by several dogs and the South Carolina Regional Contact, David Peters aka Phyrebolt.
An unseasonably cold Saturday morning in Atlanta greets Danielle and I as we head over to Charlie Smith and Jaime Ladet’s workshop to learn how to weld and help out with the Quadrapass Project. http://www.howhowhow.com/
This massive sculptural undertaking is planned to burn in South Africa for the first ever Regional Burn on that continent, Afrika Burns. The same weekend, a sister sculpture will burn at Transformus, the North Carolina Regional event. Yes, we really are everywhere, aren’t we?
What better way to spend a Friday night than making some new bunnie friends and hitting the town in a hopping bunnie pack?!
Our numbers were small, but our spirits were big and we sure did manage to turn more than a few heads and get some good laughs as we hit the Little Five neighborhood in Atlanta.
