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by Bruce Van Dyke
photo courtesy of Stephen Chandler
When you are out here...well, you’re out. Way out. About as out as one can get in this modern world. Take all your gizmos, all those things that connect you to the rest of the hive. Toss ‘em. Or at least, put them away where they won’t get all dusty. They won’t work here. This is a place of no Internet, so cell phones, no television. Some radio, yes, mostly strange ramblings from far away weirdos. Those with satellite technology, of course, will be the rare exceptions. Finally, there’s a way to cheat the Black Rock out of its isolation. But...well, that’s rather missing the point, isn’t it?
Welcome to this simple region of elemental basics. The line-up of featured performers: Air. Light. Clouds. Sky. Mountains. Dust. Silence. Sun. Moon. Stars. A land most appreciated by creatures with a keen sense of both sound and sight.
Not that your ears will have much to do on the Black Rock. You’ll notice this very quickly. Out here, your ears are granted a reprieve. The incessant din of modern life, so insistently intrusive while in urban zones is far gone…its absence almost shocking. This quiet is not subtle. You will hear nothing, besides maybe the wind and the occasional passing train. But usually...nothing. Some people relish this silence. Some are surprised at the unease it creates.
But your eyes will be busier. Much busier. The Black Rock is a great place to have a good eye. The air is not just clean, but perfect. The sky will be as large as sky can get, and the colors of that sky will be rich and pure. This potent air/sky duo combines to make one aware of a general vastness; a vastness that is unavailable when one is clawing one’s way through a busy city intersection.
Here, one can experience the distinct feeling of being a very, very small unit walking on the surface of a very, very large rock. For some, this feeling is humbling. For others, it’s unnerving. For still others, it’s somehow liberating. And for the rest...who knows?
You have to be willing to lay on your back, on the playa itself, to settle in, to breathe, to watch, to think, to let your mind wander with the clouds as they do the same. You have to stop, slow down, give yourself over to their pace, to their discovery.
Moonrise out here is an event, one worth preparing for and savoring. The full moon on the Black Rock Desert is a moon with presence. And when the moon isn’t being a presence, the way is cleared for the equally charismatic grand star field.
This great, quiet desert. This huge, mighty playa. Give yourself permission to stop here. To breathe here. To look around. To listen for something. Anything. To set for a spell. To experience both day and night.
Quite probably, you’ve never been any place quite like this one.
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