Wrinkles

Wrinkles are bad. At 50, I look in the mirror with the heart of a 29 year old and stare in amazement at the changes in my face. In a tipi, it means something isn't quite right...the poles aren't set properly or the cover has slipped down a bit from the lifting pole.

For me, a novice, I struggled with my friend for hours to get them out. It was the most challenging part of putting up the tipi. First time up, it looked like this:

So we pulled the poles in (not advised...almost impossible once they are pulled out), undid the few stakes we had put in, and shook the hell out of the cover from the back, like shaking a sheet out over a bed to straighten it out. An 80 pound sheet. We made an improvement. Finally her husband showed up and solved some big problems quickly. So our two woman tipi was really a three woman plus a guy here and there in a pinch tipi.
And wrinkles are a part of life and a part of tipis. The longer it stands, the more they relax and the more I come to accept them. I've studied them and think I understand what needs to change the next time I put it up. I'll try again someday. When it all gets used to itself, it will be smoother.