Tommy and I have prepared for the worst and hoped for the best since our second year in Missouri in 1979.
Today while on Face Book, I saw a site about "Prepping". It is full of neat ideas and sound advice about preparing for unexpected trouble in whatever form it may appear. It made me remember how we started "prepping". We called it 'survival' at the time.
We had finally decided to settle down and buy a home. We had a few requirements that were must haves. First we wanted to make sure we had no neighbors. We wanted to be able to go outside and not see a single person in any direction. This was a requirement made strongest by Tommy. He wanted to be able to go outside and pee without anyone calling the cops on him. He has successfully done this on numerous occasions! Money well spent as far as he is concerned.
In 1978 our people skills were at an all time low. Over the course of the 11 years we had been married, we had our share of crappy neighbors. Three neighbors would be wonderful and fun to have around and without fail the fourth neighbor was originally from Hell. It never ceased to amaze me. This became our main goal in life, to have a home with no one in sight.
Our experiences with neighbors was long and varied. We had the cops called on us numerous times in Georgia. At that time Tommy played in a band. Our home was the only semblance of normalcy anyone in the band knew. It was where the guys crashed when they had drunk too much or their girlfriend threw them out. We were the only ones married. We had Lisa and we had a basement to set up for practice. We were the 'grown ups' in the group. Looking back what a scary thought that is now. We were kids with a baby and a band.
Unfortunately, our neighbor worked nights and weekends. Sunday afternoon she called the cops just like clock work. I can totally understand this now---after we worked nights for years. However at the time it was a nuisance. The cops would come and tell us to quieten down. We agreed. They would leave and next Sunday we did it all again. We all ended up on first name basis....except for the neighbor. The police were young and liked our music. I would answer the door, the cop kids came in, we talked, they left after a song or two. We did end up moving. The neighbor wasn't unreasonable... she was right. She had to sleep and we had to practice....just not close together or at the same time.
It was always something. At one place we fed the neighbors 4 kids for 2 years. She slept and I took care of her kids, without either one of us saying a word. One lady didn't like kids, one didn't like dogs, one did drugs and left dangerous crap laying around. I went outside to check on Lisa, as she bent down and picked up a dirty syringe. It was always something.
When we bought our home in Oct. of 78, I was not prepared for country living. I knew it would be different, I just didn't know how different. We lived 3 miles down a gravel road and 25 miles from the nearest town. We did live close to where Tommy worked, eight miles away. A school bus came by our house. We had our own deep well. We also had coyotes and snakes. There were no trips to the store for a loaf of bread.
After living in the city for years, the country at night, seemed very dark. There were all sorts of new noises to get used to hearing. A whippoorwill sent the girls and me running for the house more than once. When a pack of coyotes would start singing their "creepy Indians in the woods" howl I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Now it is soothing and necessary. It is the feel of home.
The winter of 1978-79, we had record snowfall. Our road was closed as much as it was open. We had to wait for a grader to clear the roads for us. Lisa was the only one in school. Tami was 2 and I was pregnant with Melodi. When I got up and it was snowing so hard I couldn't see the trees across the road, Lisa did not go to school. I would be drinking coffee, the bus would run, not stopping at our house. I knew that at 11:30 or 12 they would send the kids home again. I saw no point in sending her out on such a dangerous trek. She was only 7 years old. That is when the phone calls began. I had to send Lisa to school. I thought it was too dangerous, the school said they only had so many snow days therefore they had to go for at least half a day. That meant Lisa had to go too. She did, however I was not happy. This is all rural area. Nearly all the kids rode a bus to school. That first winter was an anxious winter for me. It was a learning experience for all of us.
We learned to stock up on gallons of water, batteries, lamp oil, matches, toilet paper, paper plates, trash bags and a heavy supply of food. We split our wood, stacking it by the back door and covering it with a tarp. We learned the importance of having medicine stock piled, extra gas in the garage plus lots of kindling and newspaper. I learned the hard way the difference between gasoline, kerosene and charcoal lighter fluid, when it came to starting a fire on a cold morning.The first time I used gasoline I nearly blew our house up!!!
The longest our road has been closed was a week. A few years ago we had a bad winter and a freak ice storm hit us. Downed trees closed the roads, power was off and we were on our own...again. We did fine. We cook with gas, heat with wood and can make the bathroom "outhouse ready" in a few minutes.
I also keep the same amount of supplies for the summer. We had a tornado go through here about 20 years ago. Power was off, and once again the road was closed. No damage was done to our place but it made me very aware that mother nature is fickle and does not play by the rules. Every family needs to be ready to take care of themselves for as long as possible.
We have a wonderful network of friends who are really extensions of our family. We all rely on each other or we can all stand alone if necessary.
Prepare for the worst and hope for the best is a good rule of thumb to live by in the country or anywhere you might be calling home. Ultimately it is up to us to be able to take care of ourselves. This is a lesson we all may need to know someday. Stock up, take care, be prepared just in case........
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