Preparedness

As winter storms go, this was wasn’t really much to write home about. It was a bit long as far as duration and had a significant amount of snowfall, 28 inches at home measured in the only place it didn’t drift from the wind. The drifts are pretty tall, well taller than I am anyway. The power went out for a couple of hours the day before yesterday due to someone hitting a power pole because they just had to go out.

What do you do when you are all alone for days while it’s too uncomfortable to go outside and play? Well, though I tried to avoid it, I spent too much time online watching while people complained about not being able to leave their homes, about the roads not being passable, about not having been alerted to the severity of what was possibly coming. I recalled many storms before this one in my lifetime where it snowed enough that you just stay home for a little while. Ran out of milk, oh well, you can get some in a couple of days. The snow here, once it is finally done falling from the sky melts pretty quickly. In a weeks time there likely won’t be any signs that it ever happened at my place. There are already bare spots where the sun has melted the shallowest parts.

I don’t have the mechanical resources to dig my car or truck out, but I am unconcerned. With today’s connectedness I already had a heads up about what was potentially coming as far as snow totals. So, if I knew, why didn’t others? In this information age we are more connected than ever, and more disconnected from reality than any point in our evolution. We have more opportunities to be safe, to be prepared, and to know what is potentially going to happen well before it is upon us. But, we are also more likely to make assumptions, to desire that our instant gratification wants be met when we want them and we can wait for nothing.

Prior to the weather moving in I stopped by the grocery store. I picked up some pickles, some cheese, some discounted apples, and one or two other things and headed home. These things are hardly items that most would grab in case of a storm but they are what I knew that I could add to what I already had to make meals over the coming days. No panic, I was already prepared.

When it all started I just watched. I watched as post after post asked about the passability of roads. Whether or not the food delivery services were still running. Of people running out of dog food, or needing to go to the airport, or trying to come into Colorado from other places. It all just had me shaking my head.

Twenty five years ago all we had was the regular TV forecast, they did the best they could. Longer ago, there was little warning, though I suspect, people were much more connected to the land and nature than now and they had their ways of knowing, to some extent, what was coming. The difference is they were always prepared, because they had to be.

We are so used to going, getting in our cars at any given moment and being where we have a desire to be in minutes. We can’t fathom a few days at home, especially if we run out of something we deem is an absolute necessity, like milk, or wine. We can’t get our heads wrapped around slowing down. There is nowhere more important to be than safe. My neighbor ventured out the first day, and he almost made it home. He didn’t though and his small SUV couldn’t make it through the snow drift near my driveway. He decided to try to walk the rest of the way, but is fairly disabled and fell in the snow enough times that he wasn’t strong enough to get back up. I went out to throw the horses some more hay to keep them warm for the night about 10:30pm and he heard me and called for help. I have no idea how long he was out there. Nothing is worth leaving your safety in these conditions. What if I hadn’t gone outside?

Permaculture teaches us to prepare. Not in the ways that the prepper/survival communities do, but to make sure that we have what we need, and share with others our surplus. Weather events like this are a prime example of making sure we have what we need. I have everything I need so that if I am snowed in there won’t be a circumstance of desperation. Every home should have a minimum of seven days of supplies, and even better if you can get up to fourteen. Get comfortable with staying put. Don’t create a hazard for others, whether it’s first responders, delivery drivers, or road crews.

With weather patterns shifting toward more extreme outcomes it is our responsibility to help ourselves in every way we can prior to an event. Some weather events can’t be prepared for, like the hurricane that happened a few weeks ago in North Carolina, all you can do in those cases is mop up what remains and begin again; but in cases like this snow event we can be prepared to be uncomfortable for a few days until the sun shines and all signs that it happened disappear.