Moop Map 2015: Day 5 – What’s That Red Thing?

Greetings, you moop maniacs and line sweepers extraordinaire! I’m writing this from the still-dripping eaves of the Burning Man office in downtown Gerlach, NV. We had a doozy of a storm that blew the crew off the playa Wednesday morning, then turned into a day-long rain. The playa turned to mud, and the entire Restoration operation was grounded Thursday and Friday.

After three days on the sidelines, we are all raring to go. Your Playa Restoration hotshots really love their job, folks, and can’t wait to get back out there and finish the job before Burning Man’s site inspection with the BLM. As a matter of fact, we’re planning to work through the weekend and right up until the moment our BLM representatives arrive.

If you ever felt like cheering on the Resto crew, now is the moment! Let them know you’re rooting for them. Send a prayer on the wind. Whatever good mojo you’ve got, send it toward the playa – we’ll take it!

So About the Red Thing

So listen, I want to answer a question that’s been popping up in the comments ever since Day One:

What’s that red spot right in the middle of the Moop Map?

Would you believe it’s Burning Man’s clown nose?

No?

Well okay then, here’s the real answer:

It’s always red around the Man. Bo-ring.

This year was the first time we really dug in and mooped the Man Base area by hand. Traditionally, we remove en masse the ash, cinders, and granite burn pad (which protects the actual playa from a burn scar). This year, however, we hit it before the machinery came to cart it away.

DA and Playa Restoration’s Special Forces squad (our Dream Team of expert-level moop sleuths) spent two days on hands and knees, erasing the remnants of the Man that Burned. They pulled up lots of metal hardware and even bits of the structure that once stood in this spot.

But hey, two days of cleaning up is a long time. So we thought we should mark that spot red on the Moop Map, to indicate that it took us a while to make it go away.

This is kind of an example of how the Map works: it’s not really about how things should be, but about how they actually are. There is literally no way to burn a sixty-foot wood and metal structure, including a major fireworks show, and not make a mess. As with the flaming piano toss, we make the mess – then we clean it up.

So Burning Man’s clown nose isn’t actually anything out of the ordinary. Honk honk!

And now, about that map

It’s that time you’ve been waiting for! I’m happy to share with you the results of Day Five of the Resto line sweeps. Clown nose and all. Get ready … get set … MAP!

Ahhh, it’s nice to see all that green. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to Leave No Trace in your camps and throughout Black Rock City! The line sweeps covered 36 blocks today, rejoicing as they strolled through the easy, clean & green neighborhoods.

Great job, BRC. Stay tuned for more: not just more map, but more on how we adjust to the weather delays. The inspection is just around the corner!