"To Prep or Not to Prep . . . That is the Question."

My sincerest apologies to Shakespeare for mangling his quote.  I do hope he isn’t spinning in his grave! My aim in using this title is to encourage non-preppers to think about how our lives are constantly changing and not necessarily for the better.  Then, hopefully, they will actually do even one or two small things for themselves.  No one can be totally prepared for any and everything.  However, having some extra food and water, a hand crank radio for information and even just one working flashlight can change  an unexpected crisis from nerve-wracking to bearable.

With the exception of a couple of serious health-related issues,   my real-life experiences generally have not been life-threatening although the stress levels of some of the less-than-perfect times  have been quite high on occasion. Mostly, I prep because I’ve seen and experienced enough to know “stuff happens” whether or not you want it to.  Also, I’m a worry-wart, plain and simple.

As a child we lived in a log cabin the first two years of my life and actually did not get indoor plumbing until 1963 or 1964. Even then our water came from a well and little (or no) water due to drought was often a concern.  Also, frequent electric power outages were common in this area until the 1970s. So having water stored and candles and lamps on hand were just what we did.  Of course, being raised in the country meant having a garden, canning food, and raising a beef and a hog , too.

Weather related threats have had an impact on my prepping mentality as well. In our area tornadoes are a serious yearly concern as they tend to come through here with some frequency. Also, in 2004 we had an ice storm which left us without electricity for two weeks - no cooking, no hot water for bathing or dishes, no washing or drying laundry, and no television or computer.  We always have candles and oil lamps on hand so we had (non-electric) lights. Thankfully, our municipal natural gas supply continued to flow as did our water. So we had heat and cold water. The one thing I am most truly grateful for (even to this day) is that the sewage system worked without interruption.  Just thinking about trudging to an outhouse in such weather gives me a chill even now. :-) So, when I say I really LOVE our city utilities, I think you will understand why.  During another  ice storm we had about two years ago our electricity was only off about two days. Things were not great but definitely better than after the earlier storm. By this time we had changed to a gas cook stove and water heater, so our only actual inconvenience was being without electricity. As before, we had candles and oil lamps for lights. Our main inconveniences were not being able to do laundry those days and no television and computer.

I really do like our comfortable modern lifestyle but I realize how fragile it is.  There are just too many real situations that can and do happen plus there are so many, many more imaginary ones that could happen.  A few moments of truly serious reflection could show most people that it is simply prudent to take some precautionary measures “just in case”.  Natural forces (such as, severe weather, earthquakes, or solar flares) can be truly devastating as Ma Nature frequently reminds us. Also, the infrastructure underpinning our modern lifestyle is entirely too flimsy and could be broken so easily – either by mankind doing something really stupid or by a natural event over which none of us have any control.

So, I prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and, of course, pray to God the worst never happens .

H.N. TN

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