That trusty old tepee has been through a lot since then.
We first put it up, as I recall, during the summer that I turned seven. I was small and it was HUGE. Taller than our split-level home when all put together, it was also very romantic, as far as I was concerned. You could build a fire inside! And sleep at least 24 people! I thought.
The next summer we moved to Glenmoor and the tepee sat under the deck for a while. Those poles stretched almost the entire length of the deck - which stretched more than half the length of the house, which was a really big house - which is to say, those poles were really long. During the years that we lived there Jordan and Brent did put it up a couple times, no easy task. We swung on the rope and walked on the barrels [but that's another story for another day] and spent nights looking up the v-hole into the skies. It stood tall in our yard, towering over the newly-built fence, yet another thing to make us stick out in that (lovely) homogenous little neighborhood.
One time Brent was supposed to take it down but he didn't, and a windstorm came up and broke several of the poles, and the heavy-duty canvas ripped. It's a well-known fact in our family that Brent was the most expensive child.
(And that is saying a lot.)
So, when we moved to Roosevelt we didn't bring the poles along, just the canvas. Mom called a local lumber place asking for long tepee poles, and when we picked them up they still had the bark on them. They were also all cut to the same length.
So our tepee looks like it had a buzz cut.
Anyway, after stripping the poles and patching the canvas, we put it up and played in it again, this time in Grandma's backyard. And we took an extension cord out there, set up a TV and some couches, and had some teenager fun. Complete with drama.
This summer the wind ripped it again, but with Mom's loving care and mad sewing skills, it's as good as new. Just a little bloody and dirty. Which, I think, makes it more authentic.
I must respectfully disagree with the "most expensive" child statement. Over my lifetime I only had: Lots of pairs of shoes, 30 months of braces, 24 months of mission, __ tools lost or ruined (dad might have to fill that one in), 16 high school dances, hopefully less cavities, less fishing poles than Braden, five flat tires, four different sports, three honor orchestras, two broken arms, two choir tours, one set of stitches, separated sternum, one ripped tepee, Braden broke the windshield, Moriah hit the mud, Jordan slowed down, Heather kicked my hand, my duck ran the fastest, the bowl was the best sled, Rachel hit the swing, Max was just plain evil, at least we sold SOME puppies, Duchess breaks my heart, never lost a camera, and I never really hurt our pear tree.
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