Thursday:
I fray 100 little paintings to give out to people. I had intended to provide an assortment of blobs, spiky things, and hairy things. The blobs won out. I've got extras, if you want one.

The sky in Albuquerque is big. Sweating it out at the rental place, I meet a dancer with a Kokopelli on her shirt who is going to Taos, for a large gathering. Is she my twin? I imagine her meeting a Dorsey, the Dorsey I swear I had met before, who also gnees about camera equipment. There is a Zvi there, with voice like butter. And a tall woman named Eileen who plays guitar and paints... A short while later, I take in a chiliburger, thunderstorm, lightning, rainbow, and sunshine, all at once. We meet Ronan Waide, Ronan's Dinosaur, and Ron E. at the airport. Hilarity ensues. To my exhausted mind, Denny's is really good food.

Friday:
All kinds of surprises: Mary Szmagaj does not float around on clouds of poetry? Tom Boutell's head is normal sized? Gnat is not, somehow, green? Where is the fantastic arrangement of alien creatures I had so patiently imagined? I meet people. I sip whiskey. We do name tags. Gooley does gummy worms. Everyone is more beautiful than I expected.

Tent action!

Saturday:
I do not break my camera. I do not break my camera. [He who helps kristen find new camera deserves 1000 buttfondles.]
We scan the big sky for shooting stars. Various huddle arrangements break up and reform. Dan and Jade get married in a pagan ceremony to the sound of whispers and distant barking. The last candle is blown out, and right then, a big one shoots down.

Tent action.

Sunday:
Strange kelp-covered creatures dip and bob in the swamp. Talk.bizarre creatures shed their human form. People frolic under the hose, and I take pictures. I take a nap in a rained-battered tent. Ben Cox's Carne con Carne wakes me up.
While the majority of bobbers engage in Shakespeare, a select group of women shine flashlights on naked, drunken butts. Jv handles the technical arrangements. BC frightens the young'ns. We encourage Soren in his quest for shame. I'm not sorry, and I'd do it again. Josh tells a scary story. Shiver. More shooting stars. Hot, sulfurous springs.Tent action.

Monday:
The trampoline! It's not often that blood rushes to my head so quickly, and then out again.For a brief moment, i forget lotion and burn off the back of my knees. I get more hugs than I imagined possible in a place that eats its young. I secretly will people to stay, to no avail. I kiss a girl!

Tuesday:
Jv scampers at the edge of cliffs. We root around in Lava Tubes (caves created by lava flows). The ice cave is prettier and more interesting than the volcano, which resembles a big dirt pit. The huge insect clinging to the outside of the car is more interesting than either. Highway speeds do not deter this creature.

Wednesday:
Quick like a bunny! We zip through the Rio Grande Zoo. I try really hard to get a picture of a spider, enormous, black and yellow, and a web you could have worn as a shawl. To balance out the cute and fuzzy, we gawk at bombs and planes at the Atomic Museum. I pick up Hiroshoma commemorative stamps for my father (a mailman).Plane ride, connecting flight, cab ride, car ride, and I'm home.