I have been asked to speak at Papyrus Books in North Adams this evening. Northern Berkshire Transition Town is sponsoring me. They want me to talk about the basics of getting started in preparedness. The timing is good as I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I’ve been going over my own organization and inventory. It’s really easy to get off track and these periodic updates are important for plugging any holes you find. Sharon Astyk has an excellent post at her site that’s generating a lot of buzz. She’s doing a real life redo, looking at how to upgrade her home systems to make things run more smoothly, how to get her budget back on track and how to reduce her energy consumption. Can I just add that when Sharon thinks she’s using too much energy and not getting enough done, it can make a girl feel a bit incompetent. Still, it was a really good post and got me excited about making some changes.
I’m going to speak as I would (and have) to my own family. I will suggest that they take on one thing at a time. Have one week’s worth of food put away. This has to be food you can prepare without using any electricity. A small camp stove that uses a propane cylinder is a must-have. Then you can make oatmeal with dried fruit or just add water pancakes for breakfast, canned soup or mac and cheese for lunch and any number of casseroles for dinner. This is not how any of us should eat but I’m talking about the absolute basics for getting through a short-term emergency. Then work on two weeks and then three. Make sure you have water. A gallon a day per person for sure and think about water for flushing if that’s an issue. Think about keeping warm. Warm clothes and wool and down covers for the beds will get you through a bit of really cold weather. A couple of hurricane lamps, matches and lamp oil will g ive you some light. Don’t forget a can opener. Once these things are in place, it’s time to look at the bigger picture like alternative heating systems and stored food.
I can’t say often enough how important it is to begin with cleaning and organizing you house. Get rid of the clutter and you will find space and money you didn’t realize you had. I was in the home of a relative recently. She claimed she had no space and no extra money but you couldn’t move because of the toys. She could have had a tag sale and found some room to breath and her kids would have been better off.
Bruce and I are talking a lot about how to proceed from here. We are debating what animals we want to add, how to enlarge our garden and what trees and bushes to add. We are also making a decision about our heating system and investigating the plan to reopen our old well. The windows are in upstairs (beautiful!) and the space up there getting organized but we are still a work in progress. But that’s going to always be the case. I’ll never be “done” and I don’t want to be. The energy that comes from this work is what keeps me going. I’ll be interested to hear what you think about Sharon’s post.
October 15, 2010 at 8:04 am
I too am intrested in Sharons idea of stepping back and taking stock on where you are and what needs to be done, I feel like I am at times just spinning my wheels, am I moving in the right direction what more can I do. Looking forward to learning more
October 15, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Good luck with your talk! Share with us how it goes.
I realized that we have already started the process that Sharon is talking about. We started it when we moved here 4 years ago, and reevaluated it after two years. It’s time to do it again, but meeting monthly with a preparedness group, helps us keep on track and adjust as needed.
Oganization is something that I think is something everyone needs to just jump in and do. so much time, energy and money is wasted if you don’t in my opinion.
October 16, 2010 at 5:51 am
The talk was great. I think it inspired everyone to start with small steps instead of not doing anything because big steps are too big to take. And to fit the work of being prepared into everyday life. This is not the sort of thing that works well if the approach is “I’ll get prepared and then go back to my life as usual until things change.” The biggest take home point for me was that the real work of being prepared is the relationships that get built with the people around you. The people that will help you and need your help–basically individual security depends on community security and that requires a set of relationships that society has systematically eliminated as a consequence of increased wealth and technology. We need to rebuild those relationships and the skills it takes to do that work. Thanks for coming up to North Adams to speak with us!
October 17, 2010 at 8:01 pm
I read Sharon’s post and realized I had done a life renew and stay in place evaluation about 3 years ago when I decided to semi-retire from professional machine quilting. My words were “the money is not worth the stress” which could have been more appropriately said as “I want my life back” and that’s what I did. I’ve slowly gotten back into habits and ways of doing things I did while raising my kids alone after my husband passed away. We were poor in money but very wealthy with happiness. I wanted that happiness again. I truly believe I’ve found it.