The consolation of protecting an outdated tent
As a normal rule, I don’t suppose it’s wholesome to get emotionally hooked up to something that doesn’t have a soul, or on the very least, can’t wag its tail at you once you stroll by the door. I’m speaking about stuff. Inert, lifeless stuff like backpacks and bicycles. And but I’ve a monitor report of falling in love with sure items of drugs, to the purpose the place I’m blind to their apparent faults and truly offended when somebody suggests I improve. Why would I get a brand new puffy jacket? Simply because all the down has fallen out of this one and it has so many patches I appear like a NASCAR driver? However I used to be sporting this jacket the primary time I bought frostbite! I can’t simply eliminate it. We’ve seen issues collectively!
It’s doable that I’m not rational.
It in all probability all began with the tent I took tenting throughout highschool. It wasn’t even my very own tent—it was my greatest pal John’s tent, a spacious and heavy canvas factor that appeared prefer it slept 18 and appeared just like the tents Hawkeye lived in on M.A.S.H. In my thoughts, my pal’s dad smuggled the tent residence from Vietnam. It’s not true—he in all probability purchased it on the Military Surplus retailer—however that’s the story I advised myself. I’ll always remember the scent of mildew and cigarettes, however the factor I bear in mind most about this tent was how onerous it was to pitch. It took a number of of us working in unison with my buddy John orchestrating the factor like a conductor. One of many tent poles was damaged and held along with duct tape. It was seven ft lengthy and couldn’t be folded, so we drove to the campsite with it protruding the automobile window. One time, I borrowed the tent and went tenting with out John, however we couldn’t determine pitch the rattling factor with out his orchestrating, so we simply slept on prime of it.
I used to be reminiscing about that beater of a tent not too long ago whereas automobile tenting with my family on the sting of Lake Hiawassee, the place Georgia and North Carolina share a watery border. It was the form of journey the place nothing went proper. We bought a late begin as a result of my youngsters had baseball or volleyball or soccer or another workforce sport that takes up 99% of our free time, so we pulled into camp with simply sufficient daylight to pitch the tent earlier than the solar set. Or in the event you’re a “half-empty” type of particular person, we bought there simply in time to expertise the rain storm that will settle in for the following a number of hours. The campsite noticed biblical ranges of flooding and I cooked bratwurst within the rain whereas everybody else huddled in our tent, a four-person mannequin from The North Face that we’ve had for nearly 20 years. The loopy factor about this tent is that it’s been shrinking steadily over these 20 years. A minimum of, that’s what it appears like; each time we go tenting, our youngsters are just a little greater and take up just a little more room. This final time, within the rain at Lake Hiawassee, my household was busting on the seams of this four-person tent, which could clarify why it began to disintegrate on us.
However due to my emotional attachment, I can’t simply eliminate this tent.
First, the Velcro straps that maintain the rain fly to the tent poles delaminated. Simply pulled proper off the within of the fly. Then, one of many door zippers began peeling off. We’ve patched just a few holes through the years, however apparently holes are contagious ’trigger there are new ones. And if I’m being sincere, the tent doesn’t essentially hold the rain out anymore, as a lot as counsel strongly that the rain keep out.
I don’t blame The North Face. The tent was a high quality merchandise, however it’s lived its whole lifespan within the Southern Appalachians, which is basically a big humidor, so in fact the tent is affected by jungle rot. And I don’t begrudge the tent for lastly failing. All of us get outdated, our edges delaminating, our zippers peeling off. We gather holes. It’s the cycle of life.
However due to my emotional attachment, I can’t simply eliminate this tent. There’s an excessive amount of historical past right here. We took our youngsters on their first tenting journey on this tent. That is the tent we retreated to when our three-year-old son grabbed the improper finish of the fireplace poker stick. That is the tent my spouse and youngsters sheltered in throughout a hailstorm in Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park. Three completely different household canine have slept and shaken off lake water on this tent.
Ideally, I’d have a private museum the place retired items of drugs would go on show so I may reminisce about all of our good occasions collectively. “Youngsters, look, that is the unique hardtail mountain bike with the traditional geometry that I used to be using once I dislocated my shoulder for the third time!” I’m not suggesting the museum could be something ostentatious—two or three flooring with tastefully lit shows and informative plaques. I may maintain open homes and provides excursions to most people a couple of times every week.
Or higher but, I can provide this tent a Viking funeral, setting it adrift on a wood boat in the midst of the lake and setting hearth to it with flaming arrows. The household may take turns sharing their favourite recollections of the tent, letting go of our shelter in a dignified blaze of tears, whiskey, and hearth.
However my spouse had a greater thought. We’re going to save lots of The North Face tent, stashing it away till our youngsters are in highschool and begin venturing out on their very own tenting journeys with their pals. They’ll study the nuances of setting it up—how the rain fly simply sits precariously on prime of the poles as a result of the Velcro doesn’t work anymore. They’ll use duct tape in strategic locations to carry it collectively, similar to we used duct tape to carry John’s tent collectively. And perhaps will probably be so irritating that they gained’t even trouble pitching it some nights. They’ll simply sleep on prime of it, similar to we did again within the day. They usually’ll get emotionally hooked up to it the identical method I grew emotionally hooked up to John’s tent, and every part will come again full circle. And when my youngsters have youngsters, they’ll recant tales about their dad’s crappy household tent, the one they used after they had been youngsters, the one which smelled like moist canine and let in not less than half of each rainstorm.
Cowl Picture: Picture Courtesy of the Creator
