It's Snowing!

I am visiting my family in Maryland, and it's snowing like crazy here. We already have two feet of snow, with another foot on the way. Now, in places like Alaska or Nebraska, I'm sure that this is normal, but here in Maryland we have declared a state of emergency (literally). We're expecting power outages at any moment, so we're thinking about what we'll need to do without electricity.

This made me think of another prediction by Gerald Celente: self-reliance will be the latest fashion. After a little research I discovered that to some people, self-reliance means and spinning yarn, then dying and weaving it to make your own combat uniform to be ready for the zombie apocalypse. This is all a bit much for me. I'm not expecting THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT, for example. (One must always put that phrase in all caps, to convey the proper freaked-out survivalist feeling.)

But self-reliance doesn't have to mean that you have to be a backwoods MacGuyver. Arthur and I have been noticing a trend in the jobs he's been doing: people are thinking more about how they can be ready for localized emergencies like snow storms and hurricanes.

With this in mind, let's talk about how to prepare for a snow storm like this one:

See that white lump on the right? That's a car buried under the snow. In this kind of weather, you're not going to have much contact with the outside world. You need to be able to stay warm, deal with any medical emergencies that arise (hopefully without outside help), and (most likely) function without electricity.

To prepare for an emergency like this, spend a few days noticing all of the things that you use on a daily basis. Here's an example of our morning tasks right now:

• Get the heater going
• Brush teeth and shower
• Use the water closet
• Make coffee and breakfast
• Wash the dishes
• Give Grandmother her Parkinson's medication
• Feed the dogs

Now that I have the list, I can consider how I can perform each of these chores without electricity or access to the outside world. I'm only planning for a short emergency, maybe three or four days at most, so these shouldn't be too hard to meet.

Here's how we'll get by:

• Get the heater going. We have a wood heater, which will work without electricity.
• Brush teeth and shower. I can skip the shower for a few days, and we have bottled water on hand for everyone for drinking and toothbrushing.
• Use the water closet. If the well stops running, we'll flush the loo by pouring in a bucket of melted snow.
• Make coffee and breakfast. We have a propane stove, which will work without electricity as long as we have matches to light it with. We've also got enough food to see the family through a few days without going to the store.
• Wash the dishes. This can also be done with melted snow, perhaps boiled for ten minutes to ensure its cleanliness.
• Give Grandmother her Parkinson's medication. We've stocked up on important medications as far as the doctor will allow us to.
• Feed the dogs. As I mentioned before, it can't hurt to stock up on a few days' worth of food... and when you stock up, include pet food on the list.

Of course, your list of preparations will differ from mine, but you can get the basic idea. In the next post, I'll talk about how a good carpenter like Arthur can help you with your emergency preparedness.