Thank you all so much for being so supportive about my Nat Geo piece. As much as most of you know I was sorry I ever got involved there was a huge upside. Watching the show gave me a lot of ideas as I work on my upcoming novel. I deeply believe that you must be able to imagine something before you can create it. The novel is my attempt to imagine a world in the future that is not worse but different. I’m doing a rewrite of the first few chapters so I can add a few elements that I neglected the first time around.
Here are the things that struck me while watching the show. Most everyone is bought into the consumptive, single use dream. I’m not opposed to buying things but I am opposed to buying things for “preparedness” that are single use and non-renewable without the back-up plan for when the thing runs out. If you go over to the preseervingabundance.com site and read the post that will be up later you will read in the final paragraph what I have to say about lighting. I think it’s fine to store hurricane lamps; I have several and lot of lamp oil too, but I am aware that in years gone by, people just went to bed earlier and got up later in the winter. They managed. Candles were a luxury and not used to light up the house like 5th Avenue. Now that I see the work involved in getting a candle in winter from a bee in the summer, I respect that luxury idea much more.
I don’t believe that any of the families presented were depicted as they actually are. This is entertainment and should be regarded as such. That said, the guns stuff bothered me as did the reliance on freeze-dried food. I have freeze-dried food. Not much, but it’s there to get me over a hump should I need to fill a gap before harvest or in a bad weather year. What I wish they had shown more of (I know these guys are out there) was people saving seed and organizing community support groups. If you really expect society to collapse (I don’t) then you know that someday, the cans will run out. Someday, you will have to grow food. Someday, you will have to venture out into the landscape. The fortress and the moat are midevil dreams.
What I see in my day-to-day life is that people are getting poorer. It’s harder to get a job and the benefits are not what they were. It’s harder for a young couple to buy a house. The notion that college is a ticket to the good life is over. I see people concerned about how they will heat their homes. I see people doing a cost-benefit analysis on driving 50 miles to see a show. I hear from people contemplating food stamps and fuel assistance during retirement when they used to think about cruises and moving to Florida. You can’t move to Florida when you can’t sell your house. Not all of these changes are bad things. It might be healthier for families to stay geographically closer. Is is wise to contemplate the wisdom of so much time behind the wheel of a car, even if they are giving gas away. College probably isn’t for everyone and the money saved cold get a kid set up in a small business or in a cheap starter home. Our expectations do need to be lowered for the good of the planet and the good of our families.
So here is my good news of the day. My daughter’s school is hatching chicks this spring and they need a home for them. They asked us and, of course, we’ll take them. They will either replace our current flock or, more likely, provide a flock of meat birds (we get to choose the breed) that we will raise here and put in the freezer before needing to feed them this winter. With the turkeys and the local beef along with our pig, we’ll be set for meat. None of the meat will be in a can until I put it in a can.
February 10, 2012 at 8:06 am
Great post, you are right the show may have embellished some of what was aired. The whole gun deal just turned me off big time!! I wish I could find more like minded people in our area but most just complaine and fuss over the bad economy but do nothing to change their lifestyle until forced to, then it tends to be looking for the goverment to take care of them. I bought a tomato yesterday that cost $1.69, that was for ONE tomato!! We want to have a salad this weekend. That one overpriced and I am sure no taste tomato has hubby on board for purchasing a green house now. Maybe we can change our little world one tomato at a time and enjoy the process!
February 10, 2012 at 8:17 am
I’m thinking it’s the only way to make change.
February 10, 2012 at 8:50 am
I watched the show and was fascinated with people’s perspectives. I think that each contributor offered up something to think about and if one person takes something away from this series then I consider this to be a positive thing.
We each have our own ideas of being prepared and our levels of preparedness are usually geared to our family’s needs. Yes, it would have been nice had they shown more mainstream families but what do we consider mainstream?
While we do not have the amount of guns and “firepower” as the first couple(after all, this is MA and we wouldn’t consider it anyway) we do have LTCs and have met all the legal requirements set forth by the state. It’s an individual choice as to whether or not we carry weapons as long as we meet the “all lawful purposes” criteria.
It’s also your choice to not own them but the criticism leveled at those of us who are responsible, safety conscious and legal firearm owners is unwarranted.
February 10, 2012 at 8:54 am
self sufficiency and common sense living is the way to go. I have a few cans of dehydrated items, just in case…but we do more and ore ourselves. That is what will be the key to survival if anything happens. On the whole, I enjoyed the show..I do wish they had showed more self reliance, but it’s a show. I’m very glad we turned them down!
February 10, 2012 at 9:05 am
I too have a LTC and I do take family security seriously. I just chose not to highlight that as a way of life.
February 10, 2012 at 11:40 am
This may be a silly question, but what is an “LTC?”
Kathy, you may regret having participated in the show, but I thought that your self-sufficient community-based approach to prepping brought a measured sane balance to most of the other preppers featured. Perhaps it will convince a few more people to try to build a local community, rather than stockpile weapons and barbed wire. If it did, I think it was worth the time and effort. So thank you.
February 10, 2012 at 11:44 am
LTC is a liscence to carry a weapon. It’s one of those things I think everyone should have just because it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
February 10, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Kathy, thanks for posting that because many are under the impression that you were anti-gun.
February 10, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Have I missed the posting or have you ever addressed the issue of the extreme burden the population explosion is bringing to bear on the planet.
We already have far too many people on earth for the available jobs, food and water and it worsens by the day.
When, and I say when not if, the need for the kind of preparedness you advocate and practice, becomes the reality for a major segment of the highrise population, what happens?
I predict you will need your LTC to survive the marauding bands of cold, hungry, thirsty and destitute “live for today” people who poo-poo your efforts as too much trouble.
February 10, 2012 at 1:22 pm
I watched the first two shows. I found some new ideas I liked, but for the most part I was unhappy how people were made to look. That being said, I’m sure most people are not prepared at all.. I do have a seed bank, as well as food of many different kinds put aside. And its so important to rotate your food. And I have to say I have not purchased extra guns, but we do have a shot gun and ammo. If things really go bad, there are going to be people out there that get desperate and take what they can get.
February 10, 2012 at 1:33 pm
I enjoyed seeing your family on the program as well (as well as of course enjoy the blog); it truly seemed as a way of life, taking responsibility for oneself and one’s community, and not driven out of a sense of fear or panic like some of the other participants. I think it made a lot of people think about what they’d do in the event of an unexpected emergency, which I think is a good thing since most people don’t give a thought to what they’d do in the event of even a surprise storm.
Quick question though … I’ve been reading about the show on other sites as well, and some of the comments took me off guard. The main one was that others are saying canned meat is not safe, that only highly skilled people should even attempt it, and if the canned meat is used has to be heated to an ungodly temperature for 15-20 minutes, and then still poses a risk. I’ve read on the BackWoods Home website that canning meat is not as difficult as some claim (if I recall the author noted her son helped since he was 10
). And, not mention was made of it posing a risk afterwards. Since I value your opinion far more than some random person picking the show to pieces, I thought I’d ask. (I have been thinking about my own preparedness level more, and my mom, aunt, and I were thinking about venturing in to canning – so I thought I’d ask just to be on the safe side 
)
February 10, 2012 at 2:02 pm
I’m not anti-gun. I’m anti designing a life where guns are necessary. Would I defend my family? Of course. As for the people coming to take my food. What are the chances an aging grammy is going to fend off the hoards? Not good. That’s why I harp on a community. I do what I do and others work with their strong suit. As for the canned meat. Who said that? It’s crazy. Meat is one of the easiest things to can and if it wasn’t safe an awful lot of people would have died, including me. As long as one follows the directions carefully and uses the proper equipment, canning is neither complicated nor difficult. If you live close enough you can sign up for summer canning lessons. Otherwise, look around. Lots of organizations are now hosting conferences and workshops to teach you what you need to know.
A few nights ago I got home late. I tossed a come-canned quart of turkey with a home-canned quart of stock in a pan. I brought it to a boil and added some frozen tortolleni and a big handful of dried spinach. 20 minutes later were eating a hot, delicious bowl of soup.
February 10, 2012 at 6:15 pm
I canned my first meat this week ( a very cheap pork leg). Initially I was very itimidated about even trying, but once I got down to it, the procedure is simple, sequential and easy to follow. Buying a 3 piece weight definitely helps, so you dont have to monitor on quite the minute by minute basis. We tried the meat I had canned last night for dinner. Pork casserole in 30 mins and only that long as I cooked veg from scratch. it was delicious. My lovely husband was instantly converted to this as a product and we were quickly able to agree to spend one afternoon a month canning meals for those nights when we need something quickly. This will completely eliminate the last few processed items we still buy. A big step forward and whole new world of food processing to explore for us.
We are in Canada, where the attitude to guns is very different, we are still strongly considering a shotgun licence.
February 11, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Darn! I missed the show. I wonder if they will re-run it?
Your comments were very interesting. I have been actively ‘preparing’ for years, and find my focus has changed. The ‘immediate crisis, bug-out-bag’ thing is fine for those who live in forest fire areas, or like me, just up the road from a chemical weapons depot. More likely is the society-changing, long-term, sustainable part, and I’m glad to see “preppers’ lean that way.
I have already found myself relying on food storage during a long period of unemployment, and felt blessed to have it!
I will be looking forward to your novel. Is it in the writing stage, or the thinking-about-it stage?