Tents popped into my head today......for no apparent reason other than I've been under one recently and I know people who slept in one last night. Since I am uncertain about any meaning to the thoughts that travel in and out of my brain, I thought I'd run with this 'tent' idea and see where my fingers on the keyboard took me.
Actually, multiple images of 'tents' exploded onto the cinematic screen of my imagination. Tents that you camp in, the 'tent' cities that crop up - often in areas of nature-made disasters, tent dresses from the 1960's, tent caterpillars, tent sales, under the 'big' tent circuses, and the big tents you rent for events.
Since my SO and I have been long-time tent campers, the very first image I have of a tent is one on a campsite in a state park. Our family had many years of wonderful experiences tent camping and we still combine, as a family, to tent camp once a year. Well, our kids do. My SO and I sort of cheat and bring our floating 'tent' along, which no one seems to mind. Tenting brings back memories of when we could eat anything, including hot dogs, ground round burgers, grilled Spam, steaks, pizza pies made in pie irons, somemores and the ultimate cuisine of outdoor camping......bacon and eggs fried in bacon grease. Makes my mouth water just thinking about all that now-forbidden food.
I don't know why the not-so-stylish tent dresses of the 1960's popped out from my memory box but they did. Perhaps it was because they were so easy to sew and, back then, I sewed almost everything I wore. I even sewed my wedding dress in my dorm room during a finals week.
Tent sales usually mean price reductions, which are always fun to scope out. Circus 'big tents' have a magical and mystical lure to them, probably for the joy of seeing your children experience a circus first-hand. I remember the one circus our children went to see, almost in our backyard, and they talked about it for years afterward.
Tent caterpillars are another matter.....an ecological and entomological problem/nuisance that is difficult to control and eliminate. These tents are easy to spot and can almost completely take over certain trees and bushes.
Tent cities are never a positive sign for those living in them. The occupants are most certainly there under duress and the influence of the unfortunate circumstances that drove them from their homes to begin with. The one-hundred-eighty-degree turn from a tent city is that of the event-tent that is rented for some special occasion, such as a wedding reception. The tent-event that stands out in my mind is one that I attended, in December, for a corporate holiday party. Guests were greeted at the door of the hosts' spacious Chicago home, coats were taken, and then ushered through the home to this huge tent literally attached to the patio doors, complete with indoor heaters everywhere. While snow was swirling outside, we were toasty warm, surrounded by glitter and glam, oblivious to the fact that a major December snowstorm was happening as we partied.
I'll stop now and you can escape the 'tent-acular' nature of this posting.
Ancora imparo
