Don't be that guy

Anyone with a set of ears and eyes knows about Hurricane Harvey.  One of the better results of our "communication age" is that we hear ahead of time about things that can kill us.  Admittedly sometimes these events are over-hyped but, hey, better safe than sorry.

So Harvey came ashore last night and is creating havoc up and down the Texas coast - flooding areas that haven't seen water like this in 40 years (which means almost a generation of residents who don't get it when they hear "storm surge") and blowing almost anything taller than a parking meter down or over.  Old Harv is causing power outages that may last for weeks since repair crews can't get to an area to fix things until the roads are clear and safe.  He is also flooding places with rainfall that are so far inland they haven't seen the ocean in years!

The officials have, for the most part, avoided mandatory evacuations - leaving it up to the individual to exercise their innate right to stay in their houses and take their chances.  Although, having been told no one is coming to save them in the event they are in danger, it would seem to me the wise thing would be to get the hell out of Dodge!

All that being said and with the advanced warning you would think that:

People

Would

Be

Prepared


You wouldn't expect that they would be tearing out at the last minute to gas up their vehicles.

Even if there was still gas!

And if you are smart enough and able to have a generator?  That's going to need a supply of gas most likely:

Or rushing to the grocery store and then bitching because there was a 2 pack limit per person on bottled water.  They are actually doing this in Texas as of yesterday.

That they would have either alternate sources of power or (see above) get out of Dodge now.

Amazingly you would, in a lot of cases, be incorrect!  And there they are, out of luck!

Either they don't believe the hype (who could possibly not put faith in Jim Cantore?), they are preoccupied with everyday life (benefit of the doubt here) or they are just plain dumb.

In New England, as I have probably said to excess, we are not generally subject to severe weather - not as many tornadoes as some parts of the country, not too many hurricanes and, except for an occasional blizzard even our winters aren't normally as bad as some areas of the world.

As usual, all this is leading up to what I hope is a recognizable point:  the time to be ready for an emergency is when there isn't one.

Simple, yeah?

Have a supply of non-perishable food for at least a week and an alternate way to cook if the power/gas goes out..  Have a water supply stashed away (and don't forget what's in your hot water heater).

Keep your meds up to date - fill those prescriptions when you can and not when you just ran out.  It's really hard to plan an emergency, yeah?

Have your important documents gathered together so if you have to leave, it's a grab and go sort of thing.  That applies to a BOB (bug out bag) also but that's really another subject.

Gas the car/truck up regularly - keep it at least half full and relax knowing you can get out of the danger zone if you have to without sitting in one of those lines at the gas station while your time line winds down to zero.

Do not be "that guy" - the one who is ill prepared or, worse, not prepared at all for an emergency.  In that case you will be either in severe discomfort or, worse, serious danger that could have been avoided if you had just put a little thought into preparing for the unexpected.

Simple, yeah?

Pass it along

I've been trying lately to think of something to write about that would be interesting and useful.  Most of my thoughts come from day to day living and are not actually earth shaking revelations. And sadly I am not a writer of the caliber of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie) who could make going after the cows in the afternoon sound like the adventure of a lifetime.  Nor am I really up to the level of Louise Dickinson Rich (We Took to the Woods - and if you haven't read it, you should!) who wrote of living on the Carry Road up north on the Maine/New Hampshire border many years ago. By the way, you can actually stay overnight in either her winter or summer house on the Carry Road and one of my ambitions is to actually find them.  Have tried a couple times and ended up on the wrong side of the Richardson Lakes and Umbagog Lake.  A clear case of "you can't get there from here".

Now back to more or less my point:

I am somewhat older than a lot of my friends and they all enjoy my pickles, jams and other homemade items. A few of my contemporaries do preserve and can but even in my age group not that many of them do.  When we get together you hear a lot of "my mother used to do that but I never learned how" or "it seemed like too much trouble so I just never did it".   Been thinking lately that probably I am one of the last of the people in my group who knows how to do some of the things I do....

So with all that in mind lately I've started passing along the recipes for some of the things I make - now any fool can look on the Internet and find a recipe for, say, zucchini relish.  Ah, but is it THE recipe that Betsi had?  How would they know unless they had a copy of MY recipe!  And certainly nowhere out there is my "combo zucchini and jalapeno" recipe.

A while ago I even had some friends over to help make strawberry jam - and since then I know at least one person has been making her own.

The thing is, once a person find out how easy it is to make, say, jam - they are off and running for any other kind of jam or jelly.  All they needed was a little information and a push.

The same thing goes for canning almost anything that doesn't require pressure canning:  it takes the same equipment and, basically, the same process - all you need is the recipe.  So once a person has the right materials, canning loses it's mystery.

Some basic equipment as above and a few canning jars:

Some are plain and utilitarian:

Others are a bit fancier:

There are others that are even more old style:

And all of them make awesome gifts when filled with homemade contents:

So now to my long awaited point:

If you have skills, no matter how simple or unimportant you think they are, pass them along!  Find someone who would love to do what you do or someone who may need to do what you do and get them started.  Then in the far from now time they will be the ones passing these skills along to the next generation rather than the ones wishing they could remember how you did it!

Come on - you got this!

So where do we hide?

Regardless of your political views/attitudes/thoughts/etc, today's political climate is scary and intimidating.

Which shoulder should we be looking over:  the one where the middle east looms with the ever threatening attitude of wiping out all Christians or perhaps the other one where North Korea and it's leadership (I use that word loosely) makes every increasing motions towards what could easily become an enormous problem (not to use the word "war") for the rest of the world.

Do we cover our heads or stick them in the sand.  Do we ignore everything and just figure what will be will be and go dancing in the rain?

Personally I think that somewhere in the middle is a better answer.  A balance in our lives and in our attitudes.

This post is off on a tangent from my usual.  But as I look around I can't be the only one who is feeling as if we are all out of control.  No matter who we think should be in charge, there is a feeling that perhaps no one is.  So what does a person do?

Focus on what they can control, pray if that is your style and prepare for those things that you can control.

So:  back to the basics.  In case of an emergency do you have enough food and water at your place for a few days if you can't get out?  Do you have a place to go if you need to leave?  Is your car at least half full of gas?  Do you have the meds you might need if you can't get replacements in a hurry?  Is there a First Aid kit at your place and do you know how to use it?

This post may not resonate with people and it's totally off the cuff this morning after watching/hearing the latest news.  But there is nothing more scary than feeling powerless and out of control.  Taking care of what you CAN control goes a long way towards calming those fears and letting you focus on, perhaps, how big that pepper plant has gotten almost overnight!

So control what you can, be ready for what may happen to the best of your ability and soldier on!

You've got this!

Does it take much room?

Truly you do NOT have to have a "back 40" acreage to have a productive garden!  Trust me on this one.

A great big garden would be wonderful but if all you have is limited space, there is still a lot you can do with it.  Take a walk with me.

I have one out in the back yard that is approximately 5' x 16' and here is what I have planted in it.

Green beans - which are producing so much that we can't eat them fast enough - pickled green beans in the offing.

Beets and Swiss Chard - just a taste of the beets but enough Swiss Chard to share.

Basil - I have some in pots also but put the extras along in front of the Swiss Chard and they are flourishing.

Jalapeno peppers - one plant of the giant version and one of the regular.  Enough to heat up a lot of salsa!

Cayenne peppers - one plant with enough peppers to make hot sauce for a year.

Habenaro peppers - again, one plant will heat up the whole year's worth of salsa and crock pot pork chops.

Ancho pepper plant - my walk on the wild side for this year.  Not sure what to do with the peppers but they are huge!

Nasturtiums - cause I like them.

Marigolds - for decoration around the edges & since they are supposed to repel pests they do double duty.

There is a lot in this space....

Hopefully this walk around the yard will be food for thought and will help you consider (even if it's for next year) having a garden that can produce an amazing amount of food.  Food that you know doesn't have poison on it and that hasn't traveled many (many) miles to get to your table.

Daily we hear more and more stories about what is actually in or on our food.  Personally I'd rather grow as much as I can and I hope that perhaps this will head you in the same direction!

P.S. " I hate Swiss Chard" is no excuse - so put in a couple of zucchini plants instead or plant carrots there or a tomato plant...you catch my drift?