My grandfather lived near Lake Huron and Ipperwash Army Camp when we were kids. He was a carpenter and often did work at the camp preparing the buildings for the busy summer of cadets. One year he bought an old army tent from them and we put it up in the Pinery Provincial Camp for a month. The other month it spent in our back yard.
I was one of six kids and an army tent allowed all of us to sleep in the same space; prior to that we had a couple of tents. Back in the day they didn’t make the big tents like they do now and the army tent was perfect.
It was very thick tan canvas, with sturdy rope ties and a large pole that stood in the middle. The light inside always had a warm glow from the sun hitting the canvas. We could in reality sleep a dozen in there and often did as we were often bringing friends with us. We had a variety of sleeping mats, thin mattresses and air beds that easily deflated, keeping us up off the ground. At nine you didn’t concern yourself with a sore back from sleeping.
The tent was many things, a theatre for our grand productions that we staged in the backyard of our home. Mostly the back drop for the grand entrances we made onto our platform for these neighbourhood sell outs. We were dramatic, we were creative, we were free!
It was also an army camp base for our war games, a hospital for the wounded soldiers, a school, a retreat. A wonderful place to read a book on a lazy afternoon. We were un-plugged.
When we became parents, Gord and I bought a big tent as well, as both of us had wonderful memories of family camping trips. Even if they weren’t totally wonderful, in our storage vaults they were. Jamming kids in the backseat of an old Pontiac to drive for hours to get to the Maritimes probably wasn’t always fun, but we both remembered magical moments!
The first time we used it was on the Shuswap. My sister had bought a new tent as well, and she put hers up and we admired what a great size it was. We then put up the Taj Mahal beside hers. It was big, it was great!
When we car camped we took the Taj Mahal. I could put a king size air bed into it, and have space along the side for all the gear we brought or needed in the tent. I loved that tent! We created a wonderful space inside with lots of quilts and pillows so that you would just want to flop down and sleep, or read a book, and big enough for the four of us to do so. The kids needed the most room as they both needed to turn sideways in their slumber. I loved having the boys curled up on each side, reading books, telling ghost stories, sharing their daily adventures.
The Taj Mahal also spent many summers in my sister’s backyard when she lived on Okanagan Lake. It was our weekend home. It also was the army base, hospital, space ship, tent on Mt. Everest or whatever it needed to be to fit into the play of two young boys.
I loved camping, and we were able to do some wonderful trips to Lake O’Hara, enjoying the rain and the wonderful camaraderie of great people. Spectrum Lake, Mabel lake, Sugar Lake, Ellison, were all great times. The boys also went to Educo Adventure camp which is a fabulous camp that I would highly recommend.
This summer, get your family outside as much as possible. I have always felt that being able to go for a hike, sit on a mountaintop, by a babbling brook or the lake shore, helps to ground us. Unplug and listen to the sounds around. Our children will benefit from our “dragging” them outside to connect with nature.
The iPad is amazing but doesn’t come close to the unstoppable wonder of British Columbia’s natural beauty.
Michele Blais is a Vernon Realtor and a longtime columnist with The Morning Star, writing on a variety of topics and appearing every other Sunday.
