by PAUL RAYNER

A camping trip in a small tent is one thing. But can it become home for three months?

Daniela Smith-Fernandez was going to find that out this summer. A summer student for the Moncur Gallery, the Winnipeg native decided to spend the nearly three month period she would be working in the museum in the Boissevain campground. The University of Manitoba student did all of her packing up in the capital and securing the necessary supplies for the trip within the three weeks after she heard she had achieved the position and starting the job in early June, making it to Boissevain a day before starting work.

Why a tent?

“With camping, there was a chance of saving some money,” Smith-Fernandez stated. “It was cheaper and I didn’t know what the renting situation was in Boissevain. I did want to be outside and I thought it would be a good experience. Did I mention it was cheap?”

Interestingly, it was not unprecedented for a Moncur summer student. Her present supervisor at the gallery, Kirsten Brooks had also done the same thing for a pair of summers.

Smith-Fernandez said she already had the tent, but had to either purchase or borrow the rest of the equipment. This included an air mattress, tarps, a space heater and kitchen utensils.

“I just accumulated more stuff. I had to buy more dishes, and I bought an electric kettle, because boiling water over the fire is hard. I bought bulk duct tape, and I bought a few decorations for the campsite. The pinwheels didn’t work out because the wind was too strong, but the fish wind sock works well.”

One of the first concerns one would come up with for an endeavor like this would be weather. Manitoba is not the most stable place for outdoors living. The tornado in late June was an indication of why a person could be concerned. She said she was getting tornado warnings over her cell phone in the days previous to the one that hit the area, so she was informed, but was fortunate that it was north of town.

“I actually slept through it. The tornado watches were out for the week and they freaked me out. But I was finally so tired, I slept through it. I only knew when the pots and pans were scattered the next morning.”

Mainly, the concern was wind and rain. Although her spot was good in that the wind kept mosquitoes from becoming a major issue, it did cause concerns when it rained. No matter how the tarps were situated, things still got wet. One storm at night made the inside of the tent “look like a sieve”, with pockmarks on the walls.

“It ended up being not too bad, but at 2 am, it was hard to tell.”

From the inside of the tent, wind took on a nautical appearance.

“It was like being on an ocean. The walls go in on you. They don’t feel stable, they swing in the breeze.”

Weather became something Smith-Fernandez began to pay more attention to.

“In the city, you would say ‘it rained today’,” she explained. “You would lose track of it. Here, you became more sensitive to the weather; you paid more attention to it. I had places to go if it got nasty, but mostly it was just loud and wet.”

She also found she did not need her alarm clock, as the light coming in in the morning got her rising earlier by nature.

Wildlife like chipmunks and prairie dogs would visit the site. Some less welcome also made a trip in. A coyote howling is one thing, but one night she said one brushed up against her feet while she was sleeping.

“I had to remind myself that coyotes don’t eat people.”

Over time, she was able to get a bit of a feel for the lifestyle. Some cooking worked well over an open fire, some did not. Air mattresses were not the best, as they were impossible to properly repair. She learned to prioritize regarding what went into the Rubbermaid containers to protect them from the wet weather. She spent time at her campfire, and read a lot, watched the sunsets and the extra bright stars. Although other people shared the campground from time to time, her permanence made them almost like guests.

“You would look at the trailers,” she said, ‘but from my perspective, they were gone so fast. It would be like ‘oh, there’s people here.’”

Life was made easier by the electricity at the site, as well as the hot showers.

“You get an appreciation for the people who were actually pioneers. They did this without all of the conveniences.”

Her stay for the summer came to a close at the end of the week, as she was packing up and returning to Winnipeg. Smith-Fernandez said she would consider doing something like this again, if the situation was right.

“When it is good, it is phenomenal. It more than makes up for the times it is bad. It was a real learning experience.”

She was also able to answer the question at the beginning of the story.

“Even though it was a tent, still, when I went through the door I could say ‘I’m home’.”