magid

Camping with and near friends. This makes such a difference for me. Last year, though I was camping with wonderful people, the place never gelled as home, while I remembered how lovely it was the first year to be in a smaller camp of people who became friends and 'home' by the end of the week. This year, I was lucky enough to be in the Boston Hive, so not only were there friends in my camp, there were friends camping right in my neighborhood, too (*waves*). The one down side: the noise was much harder for me to deal with late at night, especially Monday, which is the only time I've resorted to earplugs so far (they don't work so well for me for sleeping as it turns out, unfortunately).
Another double rainbow! This time after an enormous rain storm, not just a shower, which was amazing to experience in the desert (also the sensation of growing with every step, since the mud glommed onto shoes so easily). It was so bright that not only was there the outside, second rainbow, there were bands of color inside the regular span as well. Just gorgeous.
Receiving my first on-playa mail. Next time, I really want to have a camp mailbox!
Successful lizard quest: a friend from southern Oregon had unzipped their tent to find a stowaway lizard, a gorgeous one with colored dots down its back (one row of blue!), which would not survive the playa left to its own devices. I took it to the ranger station, then on to the earth guardians, and they took it to the local hot springs, where it would have the best chance of surviving. (I wish I'd managed to get my camera out days earlier, and taken a picture of it.)
Dancing to electronic music for a couple of hours, surprising the heck out of me (I generally prefer music I know, with words and such).
Meeting one of the people who coordinated building this year's temple, and getting the chance to go inside the walls. I'd seen the plans in advance and thought them ugly; I'm glad it turned out to be a space I very much liked (and included seating this year, a huge plus during my guardian shift).
Silks performances inside the temple, the fabric hung from a crane reaching over the side. It was beautiful, the music and lighting haunting. I knew most of the performers from Boston, having seen them perform before, and it was still entrancing (though I admit, the two I hadn't seen before blew me away).
Having my hair washed and cut! I'd been intending to get around to this since before Passover, but it never quite made it to the top of the list. A friend went with me, and we spent two hours sitting in the hot sun in front of the huge green doors to Oz to make sure we would get in. Just having my hair washed after days was amazing, but then having a professional stylist cut it however he chose (read: I didn't have to decide anything!) was amazing. I very much like the cut, too. (Just in time for Rosh Hashana :-)
Visiting the farmers market and eating slices of cantaloupe and pluot. Also seeing the acorn squash taken, with some other vegetables.
Did I mention friends? Not only this year's campmates, but people from both of my other trips too. Totally awsome.
Giving people tastes of fruit liqueurs, which was extremely satisfying: I offered my art, and pretty much everyone who tried some liked it (I did run into some teetotalers, which was totally cool too.) Yay!
ETA Stealth ninja attack at night, light sabers out of nowhere, then vanishing again.