Ninety Nine Nights in a Tent- The Story of a Brave Woman

by Shannon Rule'

Ninety-Nine Nights in a Tent
(The Story of a Brave Woman)


It was early in the spring when I knew my life had come to a juncture.

Juncture, an odd word; I was not even sure what it meant and all of its nuances

yet it was the word that rooted itself in my mind. Yes, that was the word. My life

was at a juncture. Something had to change and it had to change soon.

Deep in my inner being I felt a longing to be alone, to sort things through,

to be peaceful and quiet, to be close to nature and to be enclosed in a tiny safe

place. Whether it was my favorite book from my childhood planting the seed,

the Boxcar Children, or A Gift from the Sea, or even later, A Year.

by the Sea, I don't know. Whatever the catalyst, there was a distinct calling to

that separate place. There was only one problem. Where?

Unlike the storybooks, I had unfortunately not inherited a beach house and

a boxcar was out of the question. A thought came out of nowhere, a tent.

That was it. That was the answer. I would move into a tent. Conveniently our

home was located on a three acre wooded lot. No one had to know and I

wouldn't embarrass my family by living in a tent in the front yard like a crazy

woman.

I scoped out the land and focused on a lean-to next to the shed. I cleaned

out the junk that had accumulated. The board floor would be softer than the

ground and higher during rainstorms. The tin roof was supported by six posts. It

was sturdy. The tent would be sheltered from sun and rain; the sound of rain on

the tin roof would be divine. There were trees on three sides and even a clearing


for a picnic area. It was very secluded and private. All I needed was a tent.

The next week I met my women's group for dinner. Late in the evening I

casually mentioned, I'm thinking about spending the summer in a tent. Instantly

there were offers for two tents and one motor home. One woman seemed really

interested in providing her tent. It was easy to set up taking less than ten

minutes. Ten minutes, how hard could that be? She promised to check it out for

any problems and would come the next week to set it up for me. Not one woman

questioned my sanity.

The motor home woman made her way over and said, Really don't you

want the motor home? It would be a lot more comfortable. We never use it.

Thanks, I appreciate it. I have this idea that it has to be a tent. I don't know

why. I want to be in nature; kind of roughing it.

The tent woman came to my house and set up the tent. It fit perfectly

under the lean-to. She pointed out the tent had a bottom, two windows with flaps,

a skylight, pockets, a rain covering, and it set up in ten minutes. It had shock -

corded poles. I had never even been in a tent. There was a whole new

vocabulary to learn.

I was pleased to see that it was all one piece so nothing could get into the

tent with me. I'm not particularly squeamish but I didn't want to share my space

with any little critters.

I called my brother. I'm moving into a tent for the summer. I think it's

going to be great.

He laughed, Wait until the little critters join you.

No. They won't. They can't get in. The tent is all one piece. It's completely

enclosed. It even has no see em netting, I said. I sounded like a tent

commercial.

He laughed again, Just wait.

I continued my protests, They cannot come in! There's no way.

I was getting agitated with him.

He gave up, succumbing to my insistence. Understand that my brother

has a PhD in wildlife. So I'm arguing with a doctor in critters. I was sure nothing

could get in my tent.

The whole tent set up came together in a few days.

Want to use my yo? another friend asked.

What's a yo?

It's a Korean bed. It sleeps great and it folds up into a chair.

Really? That sounds good. You don't mind?

No, I would love to contribute to your tent place.

Okay. I'll come pick it up. I'm ready to get into the tent.

I picked up the yo, thinking that I had the greatest friends in the world. I

put it in the tent and looked around. It had all come together without any cost.

I found a gadget with plug-ins in the shed and attached it to an extension


cord which ran out to the tent. I plugged in a small fan and a radio. Inside the tent

I covered the floor with an old quilt. A milk crate made a bedside table and a

folding chair fit in nicely. A dome flashlight made a bed side lamp.

Outside the tent I strung little white lights in the trees. It was beautiful. I

gathered up leftover boards and concrete blocks and made a table and end

table. A couple of lawn chairs and some plants I dragged across the yard finished

the patio.

It wasn't even Memorial Day and I spent my first night in my tent under the

stars. The next morning I woke to birds singing. It was everything that I thought it

would be and more.

One Sunday afternoon I needed a nap. I went to the tent. It was great;

nice breezes blowing and in no time I was sound to sleep. That was when I felt

something on my leg, not really waking I brushed at my lower leg and turned. I

felt it again. I roused a bit and looked down. There was a big blue lizard on my

leg. Ugh. I jumped up, snatched my bedcover, everything came with it and I

threw it out of the tent. I reached for a nearby broom, jumped back in the tent and

sweeped and swatted at the lizard until I flipped him outside the tent. I don't know

who was happier to see him go, me or the lizard. So much for my critter proof

tent. Only one other time did I find a lizard and that was just a little one under my

pillow.

The next lesson I learned was how to go to the bathroom in a tent. At first I left the house late and returned early to use the bathroom. This was defeating

the purpose of spending peaceful time in the tent. I took one of those plastic go

cups and put it in the tent for an emergency bathroom facility. Again my only

experience with, forgive my indelicacy, cup peeing, was at the doctor's office

when I usually had difficulty adequately filling my cup. Imagine my surprise when

I first used my emergency bathroom facility and found that my cup runneth

over. Who knew?

That night I had to slip out of the tent. I filled that little cup two and one half

times. Obviously the little cup had to be re-thought. I took a large plastic gallon

jug with a handle and cut it out anatomically correct and had a very nice,

adequate facility with a handle.

At some point I added a hammock. I installed it myself between two trees.

Sometimes on the week-ends I would lie in the hammock and read. It was hard

to believe that life could get any better. The great thing was that everything I did,

I did myself. I was beginning to feel strong, both inside and out. This was a great

adventure, kind of like one of those wilderness camps in my own back yard.

From the tent I watched my first lunar eclipse. I would lie on my back and

look out my critter proof screen at the sky and watch the stars. In the morning I

would wake to the gentle sunlight filtering through the trees. Once I remarked to

a friend, the mornings have been so beautiful lately. I smiled and thought that

maybe they had always been beautiful and I just didn't know it.

I journaled my thoughts day and night. I read, I wrote, I watched, and I

listened. Outside of nature, my only entertainment was the radio. Tent living was

everything that I hoped and more. I noticed that when I went to large discount

stores now, I meandered to the camping section.

Leaving the public library one day, I noticed Backpacker magazines were

on the free table. I grabbed a few and horded them in the tent. I studied outdoor living.

The local wildlife refuge advertised a canoe trip to watch the egrets roost. I signed up. While I grew more and more at peace with myself and the world

around me, not everyone I knew felt the same.

Word of my tent living adventure got out. A few people would knit their

eyebrows together and say, What about this tent?

Yes, what about it?

I tried explaining it in several different ways like You know some people

spend the whole year waiting for their vacation so they can go tent camping and I

get to do it every single night. I'd smile. They wouldn't.

At first I felt frustrated until I realized that I could not move out of the tent

just to make other people happy. I realized that I had done that my whole life. No

matter what was best or right for me, I did what made someone else happy or

what I thought would make them happy. The funny thing was that it never really

made anybody happy. We were just everybody unhappy.

Other times people would say, Aren't you scared?

Scared of what? I'd ask.

I thought about that too. There weren't any wild animals. The only wildlife

problem had been the two lizards. Every night my dog would circle the tent and

lie down near the tent, which thoroughly amazed me.

I didn't think robbers would break into a tent. In that respect I might be

safer in the tent than in the house. One day I found a remarkable Bible verse:

If you make the Most High your dwelling-even the Lord, who is my refuge- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. Psalm 91:9-10 NIV

The verse became my mantra. No disaster will come near my tent!

One day I found a message left by my tent woman friend:

I don't know what you are really going through and I don't have to. I just

know that you are a very brave woman and I am proud of you.

She had written out a little title deed transferring the ownership of the tent

to me. I was now the proud owner of my very own tent. She had written that she

was proud of me. She had called me brave. No one had ever called me brave

before. I don't know that I had ever been brave before. Now I was the slayer of

big blue lizards and I lived in the wild. I had lived by my own resources. I had

survived public opinion. All along I had known that something had to change. I

hadn't known that something would be me.

word count 1916



Shannon Rule 2314 Turkey Creek Road Starkville, MS 39759
(662) 617-0367
msdeltachild@msn.com







Ninety-Nine Nights in a Tent
(The Story of a Brave Woman)






By





Shannon Rule�

About the Author

Note: 99 Nights is a "coming of age" story for a middle aged woman. Don't laugh, everyone has to start their outdoor adventures somewhere. Mine started here. "Backpacker" was there for me. The Story just won 2nd place in the GCWA 16th annual contest. Byline- Shannon Rule' is a writer favoring inspirational, humor, and memoir writing. This summer she plans to kayak the Poudre River in CO.