After I finished writing for a full afternoon about my Burning Man experiences, I realized I had left a lot out. I just couldn’t cover it all. But there were some experiences that I still wanted to share with you. Indeed, I’m not sure why I missed them the first time around. It’s just taken me over a month to sit down and actually write about them.

I mentioned that getting from Reno to our campsite took about six hours, and that it was an exercise in surrender. What I didn’t mention was the awesome surprise waiting for me at the gate. When we finally pulled up to the head of the line, we (of course) had to go through the official entrance procedure: the “virgins” (first time burners) had to get out of the vehicle and roll around in the dust, and ring the bell.

I told the girl at the gate that I was exempt, because it was my second Burn. Her response: “Second-time burners get a kiss.” And she gave me one of the most amazing, sensuous, erotic (I pause here for a moment, remembering… mmmmm…) kisses I’ve ever had in my life. Just a little tongue, mind you – not too much, not too little – just right. At 4:00 in the morning after spending six hours on the road, it was a nice welcome to the playa. And completely unexpected – like so much else that goes on at Burning Man.

About halfway through the week, I got another pleasant surprise. I was hanging out with Andrew and his girlfriend Tara in the chill tent, and Tara asked me if I wanted my feet taken care of. Although I had been wearing shoes, the desert can take its toll on anyone’s feet, with all that running around. So I gratefully accepted. I got the full deal, cleaned, massaged and moisturized. It was a beautiful experience. I thanked her repeatedly. “You deserve it,” she said. Andrew is a lucky guy. “I know,” he said.

Around the end of the week, I wanted to attend a soul-retrieval workshop at the Shaman Dome, but the time was incorrect on the events calendar, so I missed it. I later went back to the Shaman Dome to see if one of the healers there could do a soul-retrieval journey for me. (Sorry if you don’t know what shamanism is, or journeying, or soul-retrieval… I don’t know enough about it to explain it properly. It’s spiritual in nature.) It was the end of the week, and the healers / shamans had been working very hard all week, helping dozens of people a day. But on Saturday night, after hours, Elizabeth K. agreed to do a journey with me. She didn’t have to. But she volunteered to help me out.

I’ve already mentioned in my previous post about being taken care of in other ways that week – the spontaneous (and desperately needed) healing session on Friday morning from a colleague there, and the ride back to Reno, which was a very cuddly experience.

So I guess what it all means is, I had some really nice experiences of being cared for, held, and loved while I was at Burning Man this year. I talked in my previous post about my gratitude for having the chance to help others this year, and to focus on healing others, but I myself experienced healing at Burning Man at the hands of some wonderful people, who gave me valuable gifts out of the abundance of their loving hearts. I am deeply grateful to all of them, whether it was a nice long foot massage or a quick two-minute kiss, it was all part of the amazing, unpredictable, divine abundance of life on the playa.

For these gifts and the hundreds I haven’t begun to talk about, THANK YOU.