Under-prepared

...which is to say, NOT READY.

Driving to work today, I had to ford a wash over the county road I drive. The water was over the road for the length of a football field, and it appeared about 4 inches deep...well, that was a bit of an under-guesstimate, for it surged in under my doors as I crossed. Once on the other side, over the next hill, I discovered an utterly impassible wash that sent me backtracking, taking an alternate route (that was also partially submerged).

It reminded me that I live on the edge.

Not the edge of civilization, really. My whole route (even the alternate route) to work is paved.

I am referring to the edge of my seat, my pants, my sanity. I am on the cusp of something, the brink of something, the very lip of this chasm--

I am under-prepared for Hardship. If my car were to have stalled out, there I was in my dress shoes. If I run low on gas and there's been a raid on the stations, I'm running on empty. I did not eat breakfast this morning, so likewise, if civilization crashed right now, I'd go hungry. If the Internet were to blow a gasket, where would I be then? Unable to get this out!

More realistically, I have no provisions stored up. We have no fresh water in reserve. We have no goods to barter. I don't even own a generator (as last night's power outage reminded me, yet again.)

Even more realistically, there's this pandemic scare, and my household could not go into isolation if we wanted to. People in my house depend on their daily newspaper, their daily runs to the market, and god forbid a cell phone infrastructure collapse!

And last night, as winds raged and tornadoes threatened, I realized how very under-prepared we are even for tornado or fire. We have flashlights and a battery-powered radio, but that's it, and it took 1/2 an hour to get that stuff rounded up.

My grandmother used to make me pack blankets, candles, food, warm clothes--just to traverse Kansas in the winter--heck, even to go the 12 miles to our farm some winter days! She was always prepared for any eventuality. She had weathered the 30's, and she was one tough customer.

Mennonites and Mormons are always prepared. Some of those folks have told me a tenet of their faith is to have 2 months-worth of supplies and resources at hand, always. They are always among the first responders and disaster relief teams, too. You have to respect them for that--not only are they prepared, they help mop up for all us dopes who were not-so-at-the-ready.

Getting Prepared is a good goal. Being self-sustainable may be a long, long way off, but at least this early step seems achievable--and vitally important!