What is being prepared? It is being able to handle almost any kind of emergency or situation that is out of the normal. If your electricity goes out in the middle of the day for no apparent reason, what do you do? All of a sudden, there's no water coming out of the faucet, so how do you handle that? A hurricane/snowstorm/ice storm/bad weather system is headed your way so what should you do or not do? What supplies are needed?
Now, the government has websites devoted to preparedness information. The CDC has one here but since we all know what happened to the Atlanta CDC in The Walking Dead, well, go there at your own peril. FEMA has some information too, but they don't have a good track record and if you get preparedness messages on your phone then a coronal mass ejection obliterates satellites and the power grid, those won't be too helpful. I guess you might be able to sense that I don't think it's the government's job to provide me with anything after an event of some kind. You will not find me in a line waiting for government hand-outs after a crisis because I believe in being prepared, as much as possible, for what ever might come down the pike. And frankly, I feel the government recommendations are on the scanty side.
There is a lot of doom and gloom out there, people who blog that the sky is falling almost every day. I have to stay away from a steady diet of that because it makes my Hysteria Meter peg in the red and it takes my mind off the One who is my Hope and Salvation. So, I try to focus on blogs that are very informative and educational.
James Wesley Rawles can be a bit hard-nosed, but what can you expect from a former Army Intel guy? He's written two novels, the first a thinly disguised tech manual with a barely perceptible plot. I haven't read his second novel yet. If you need to know how to prepare for an emergency or a long-term, grid-down, TEOTWAWKI situation, this is a great place to start. Mr. Rawles has a nice glossary complete with a pronunciation guide.
Patrice Lewis is so practical and down-to-earth! I enjoy the pictures and the fact Patrice and I have the same kind of sense of humor.
I first learned about canning bacon from Enola. Enola and Patrice are also friends, which is kind of neat. Enola has an ebook on dealing with illnesses that I would like to get.
Kellene Bishop's is one of a number of fantastic sites on preparing written by Mormons. Just like they have cornered the scrapbooking market, Mormons seem to really have a disproportionate amount of websites on preparing and I think this is a good thing. I have learned so much from reading a variety of these blogs, I appreciate that they are taught to do this and then willingly share with others. Kellene just wrote a piece on famine that is must reading. The thought of my children starving is a driving force in my stocking-up.
Brenda is such a gentle soul who so willingly and transparently shares her struggles. She is one of the first bloggers I ever read about stocking up. Click on the "Deepening the Pantry" tab at the top to read through her archives on how she survived through lean times.
Thinking that things will always be like they are is not wise. Thinking that the government will care for you in a natural disaster situation is not prudent. Be aware of what challenges your region of the country could experience and then plan for them. Be prepared isn't just for the Boy Scouts!
Next week, I am going to be discussing not a fan and Abundant Simplicity.
No comments:
Post a Comment