Why Are We Here?
That’s a question I ask myself sometimes. Back in ’93, the day they burned down Mt Carmel, I knew I wanted to get out of the way, because something bad seemed to be headed our way.
So I moved to a small acreage in the woods of North Central Missouri. Nothing happened. The world kept turning.
Then there was Y2K. There was much to get ready for before the turn of the century when all the computers would chase us back to the Stone Age. I kept prepping. Y2K came and went, and the world kept turning.
Then came September 11, 2001. I locked down my “compound”…i.e. closed the gate to my driveway, and awaited an invasion. It was a horrible time, but it, too passed. And the world kept turning.
Various other things have come and gone. Now, it’s ObamaCare, and some of his other socialistic ideas that have many terrified. And yet…as of today, the world is still turning.
So why are we here? Here in a preparedness web page?
Preparedness does not necessarily have to be being ready for “the end of the world.” I found that out in Spring 2001, when I had a stroke. I was quite happy to still have some of my Y2K preps on hand. I don’t know that it is an actual tenet of the religion, but Mormons strongly recommend having a year’s supply of food on hand. Our grandparents and great grandparents surly had enough on hand to get them through the winters they endured. They had no WalMarts, or Safeways to pop over to, if they ran short of a staple item. To listen to some “main-streamers.” a person is crazy or a hoarder if you try to have extra on hand. Using that reasoning, we would never fill our gas tanks up, because we only need 75 cents worth of gas to get to work. And if you are not causing someone else to run short, it is NOT hoarding. It’s common sense preparedness.
Most of us do not have the ability, whether it is the lack of time, land or money to be totally self-sufficient. But in these modern times, there are ways to at least get close to safely-sufficient, if not self. We can take advantage of seasonal items available in abundance, sale items…and yes, Rubies…we can make use of coupons. (my friend Rubies would beat me if I did not mention that)
The point is we need to think a little in terms of “what if” there was some type of disruption in the food chain. It doesn’t have to be a nuclear war. In 1993, a small town south of me here in Missouri, Fayertte, nearly had their grocery store go out of business because they were on the “wrong” side of the heavily flooded Missouri river, and were unable to get re-supplied. There have been ice storms where power was out for long periods of time, tornadoes. I won’t list everything. You know, or at least I hope you do, there are many things that can cause you to maybe be caught short in your supplies, including illness.
I don’t think there is a magic number of days, weeks, or months of food you should have on hand. It is a personal thing, but frankly when I read the FEMA and Red Cross pamphlets, I have to shake my head. They say to have 7 to 10 days food on hand. I have to tell you, honestly, I’d be a wreck if my storage was ever below 7 to 10 WEEKS, let alone days.
I know it’s hard enough to just get by feeding your family the way it is. How on earth are you going to store up a month, or 12 months worth of extra food, too? That one is pretty simple. You don’t. Pick a number in your own head that you think you can handle, and then go at it gradually as you are able. If something is on sale, buy 2 items, and put one into storage. At the end of a few weeks, you’ll look at your measly storage and say, “That jonesey guy s nuts!” But keep at it. After you reach the 6 month mark, it will look a lot better. You don’t have to give up everything, but just think how much can go to the storage closet if you maybe skip that movie this week. Storage adds up quicker than you think, if you keep at it. Set small goals, and when you reach them, set a new one. I’m not much when it comes to cliché’s, but here is one to follow: Store What You Eat…Eat What You Store. There were Y2K’ers who put away dozens of cases of Spam. All well and good, if you eat it, but there were some who would not touch the stuff, and yet had scores of cans of it. If you have the dough to chuck out a window, go for it. Otherwise, store the things you KNOW you will eat. And try to get things you enjoy eating. I truly believe I could eat Ramen every day. I like it. Then there are those who gag at the idea of eating it once. Don’t be steered, especially in the beginning, into buying a bunch of anything that you are not certain you will use. And not necessarily 5 years down the road, or after a disaster. That’s where we get into the subject of rotation. We’ll save that for another time.
Notice I have only been talking about things you can get locally. There’s time to think about those nice big pallets of Mountain House Freeze Dried foods, and pails and bags upon pails and bags of wheat, rice and beans. If you won the lottery last week, then go for it, but most need to start small and work up.
I have a tendency to get a little long winded, so I think I will bring this to a close. I will be back to discuss those other things later, and also to consider the REAL important item that nearly all take for granted. That being H2O…good old water. In a power outage, do you still have yours?
Until next time,
jonesey65244
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