Be Prepared

I'm sitting here in Illinois facing yet another winter storm. The third in the last three weeks. We've been getting pelted pretty good here on a regular basis. I sure hope that groundhog in New England is right and we are going to get that early spring he promised. It's not looking good though. I am very grateful that we're not in the same boat as those in the New York area where they've already recevied over one hundred inches--yeah, over NINE FEET of snow! It's made me think a lot lately of preparedness. The last ten winters have been so mild that even those of us in the northern states have become a bit lax in winter storm preparation. There are lots of things to consider--heat, electricity, and most importantly food and water supplies, all of which could easily be cut off in the event of a major storm, sometimes for days, even weeks.

Finding out that the area I'm in is supposed to get about eleven inches tonight (yeah, at one time, that wasn't a misprint, and we still have a good six inches on the ground at the moment left from the last two storms) I find myself running through the lists in my head. Enough food--check, firewood (surprisingly since I haven't used the fireplace in years) check, water storage--none, I'm going to have to fill some buckets. The very idea of having buckets of water brings to mind the lesson learned over eleven years ago when we first moved in here, a young couple with two young children 8 and 9 years old. That very first spring just as winter seemed to have blown its worst our way, and it hadn't been bad at all, it dumped a foot of snow overnight on us and there was no power, and that meant no water. I remember well sending the kids out with kettles to fill and melting the snow on the stove top (luckily we still had gas, just no electricity to run the pumps). It takes a surprising amount of snow to make any amount of water at all.

Now I know better than to take electricity for granted--I'll have a water supply on hand should the power be cut for any length of time. If you don't hear from me at all over the next day or so, you'll know I'm buried under over a foot of accumulated snow. Keep warm, and make sure you're prepared for Mother Nature's worst as she blows her hardest this week... spring is just around the corner. At least that's what that stupid groundhog said.