Yesterday at this time the power in my house had been out for almost 12 hours, by the time it came back on at 8:30 p.m. last night it had been out for a total of 21 1/2 hours. Not a huge amount of time but when it is 30 degrees outside and the temperature in your is steadily dropping it can seem like forever.
The whole experience made me realize three things: I would have never made it as a pioneer (or really anyone who lived before electricity and other modern conveniences), I should be way more grateful for all the awesome things I do have and I am totally unprepared in case of a real emergency.
I have come to realize that I am a giant wuss. Sailing across the ocean to get to American? Trekking across the plains to get out West? Having to live without electricity all the time? No thanks. Not only would I have hated it I am pretty sure I wouldn't have survived. I would have given up and just died somewhere along the way. If you really think about it, it is easy to see why people are so overweight these days, we literally do nothing compared to our ancestors. They had to chop wood and haul it to stay warm, they had to haul water in not just turn on the faucet, they had to build fires and sew blankets to keep warm, they had to hunt and gather and find ways to preserve their food without refrigeration, they had to build their own houses, take care of any animals they had, deal with illnesses like measles and pneumonia without modern medicine, and sometimes bury their children because of it. Life was hard! I can't imagine doing any of those things, which brings me to my next point.
I take the life I have for granted and am soooo grateful that I don't have to do all those things. I love that I don't have to worry about how I am going to heat or cool my house or where my water is coming from or if I am going to have fresh food that day. I am glad that my ancestors did all those hard things so I don't have to!
Lastly, I need to get better prepared in case something like this or worse happens again. Sure, John and I have a decent amount of food in our freezer and pantry but my options for cooking it is limited. I have a gas grill but no extra gas for when what is already in the tank runs out. I have a little camping stove but I'm pretty sure I don't have any propane for it. I have a wood burning fireplace but the chimney hasn't been cleaned out in who knows how long so it is unusable and I don't have any firewood. I don't have extra batteries for flashlights. I don't have any lamps or candles or foot warmers. I don't have any sort of water supply in case the water is out/contaminated. Basically, if something happens for any extended period of time, we're screwed. Which considering there will be a baby to take care of in the next few months, is pretty scary! I need to make a better plan and get prepared asap.
