Preparedness Challenge- Week 1

It's rare to find good news in the newspaper or online, but lately the news has gone from bad to worse. I'm sure you've read about the jobs lost, the foreclosures, the weather emergencies on the East Coast. You've probably read about the rising number of homeless families and families living on food stamps. Increasingly, the stories are of terrorism, both at home and abroad. Lots of scary stuff out there in that big old world, and for the most part, there's not a thing we can do about it.

For the most part.

There's nothing we can do about weather, jobs or terrorism, but as a friend of mine would say, we can lessen the negative impact. Repeat those words: lessen the negative impact. We can't change who or what will impact our lives, but we can change how it will affect us. And therein lies the challenge. I'm challenging you to prepare for the negative to lessen it's impact on your everyday life. So how do you do that? It's so easy.

You need water to survive. Do you have water? Do you have a way of filtering water? There are so many options out there. Many of them are beautiful and expensive, many of them are effective, but homemade ugly. It doesn't matter which way you go, as long as it works.

You need food to survive. Do you have food? Do you have enough to sustain you during an emergency? Do you have a way of preparing food if the power is out? Again, so many options to consider. The LDS advocate a year's worth of food in your storage, and I believe the same thing.

You need shelter to survive. Is your home secure and functional? Do you have a backup plan for bugging out if you need to refugee? Do you know your neighbors? Do you trust them?

You need heat to survive. Do you have a working furnace? What's your backup plan for a grid-down situation? Are there enough blankets in the closet? Do you have extra fuel for your stove?

You need air to survive. Do you have a CO2 detector? Are your windows screened? Have you considered respiration masks to contend with pandemics?

You need light to survive...or at least be comfortable. Have you worked out a plan for lighting your home when the power is down? Is there enough oil for your lamps and batteries for your flashlights? Have you tried a hand-cranked lantern?

Yes, there's a lot to consider regarding preparedness and everyone is going to have a different approach, but that's what makes it wonderful. And as long as it gets done, it doesn't matter how you approach it. So here's the deal. Let's get prepared by spurring each other on. Each week, let's dish on what we've done during the previous week to ready ourselves for the worst. Leave comments and let us know what you did and how you did it. Your comments may encourage someone else, or remind someone of something they've forgotten. Survival is a community effort, be it a real community or a virtual one and it's up to you to get involved.

I'll start by saying that this week, I purged my basement making it a more livable space. I gathered up extra blankets and pillows and put them in a convenient spot. I organized some of my dried goods to create a little extra storage space. I mailed a few seeds to friends who I know will appreciate good tomatoes. Mara and I practiced sprouting seeds, baking and making yogurt.

So that's what I did.

What did you do this week?