Being Prepared.

[Bishop]

We had a whopper of a ice storm come through the midwest at the begining of the week and monday night we lost power, it was out about 4 full days. you learn alot about yourself when something like this happens. we have become so dependant on electricity and all the things that need it to function. i have to admit that i was not prepared. i had some basics, prob more than most people, i have one of those little survival stoves, extra blankets, batteries, flashlights, candles, water, etc. but mainly i dont think i was prepared from a mental standpoint. i just happen to be off work this week so i was here all the time, the power went out monday and by tues morning the house was cold, see your breath cold, that kind of cold wears on you, i was not prepared for that either. i live across the street from a large campground and being good friends with the owner on wednesday he offered us a cabin that had radiant gas heat, i jumped all over it. we would gather up the dogs and go down there at night and sleep and after sending the wife off to work i would come back here in the morning and watch over the house and make sure the pipes didnt freeze. as i was sitting here i came to a realization that surprised me. im going to miss the nights spent in that little cabin with the oil lamps burning snuggled up with the wife talking about all the things we should be talking about on a regular basis instead of staring at the television. im going to miss the quiet and the darkness, we were the only ones in the campground and its a different kind of quiet and a different kind of darkness when there is no power. some primitive skills can take you a long way when something like this happens, this was really not that bad and could have been a lot worse. a little word of advice, be prepared for something like this. be prepared for the initial toll it will take on you mentally. be prepared as far as supplies go, you may never need them but if you do you will be in good shape. please realize that help may not be that fast in coming and you may need to fend for yourself until it does come. also be prepared to miss it when things return to normal and the phones start ringing again.   

[mullet]

   Bishop,When you lose power and everything that goes with it; it's kind of a shock at first.But it doesn't take long for that survival instinct to kick in.When we had the 3 hurricanes hit us in 2 weeks it got to the point of "Oh not again".Every time power would come back on we had another hurricane.But it made you go back to the simple times.I finally got a generator after the 2nd storm.All I could run was the house ,no air conditioning.After the last storm the humidity was about 90 % and it was in the 90's.It brought me back to my childhood when most families didn't have AC,just fans.Like you said,it was nice with the wife and I playing cards by Coleman light and then when you got bored,well,it was snuggling time.We lost power for 14 days,and it was sure nice when we got it back.I feel for you guy's,I'll take the warm weather without power before the winter time stuff.

[DanaM]

I feel lucky living up here in the UP of Michigan, no hurricanes, earthquakes, ice storms, tornadoes and floods are few and far between.
Yea winter is long and summer is short but the changing seasons are very beautiful and exhilirating. I live on the South side of the peninsula
next to Lake Michigan in what is known as the banana belt, we don't get the constant lake effect snows like they do to north on Lake Superior.
Some places on Superior get snow every day and is measured in feet not inches. But it don't make the news, guess were to small and people are used to it.
Go to Houghton area and people will snowshoe or ski to get around, a big storm barely slows them down. I think folks up here are more equipped to handle
hardship than the city folk, the UP is mostly small communities largest town is about 40,000 people we call it a city Neighbors actually still help each other
and a helping hand usually isn't far away. Sadly its starting to change, city folk have discovered the low land prices up here , so land is quickly getting expensive
and they are bringing thier city ways and attitudes with them. No Trespassing signs are going up everywhere, also seeing more of the city folks that object to hunting
they are not only non-hunters but PETA members and so on. Not all of them but too many! There goes the nieghbor hood eh!

[Bishop]

mullet, your right, the first day or so was kind of a shock to the system but by the third day we had kind of settled into the idea of not having power. my kids had heard about hurricane katrina but they never thought about the specific things those folks had to deal with like no power,clean water,food, etc. if i had a generator we sure would have used it , i couldnt get enough reading light with candles and a oil lamp but with the cabin heater at night we were in a little better shape than a lot of folks so im not complaining..the stores ran out of things a lot faster than i thought they would, c and d batteries were scarce, good candles and lanterns all went fast. i think this may have been a wake up call of sorts. but it sure could have been worse.

Dana, we got approx 4 or 5 inches overnight, everything is nice and white out there, ill take this snow over that ice any day..lol...i like winter but im not sure what we would do with feet of snow instead of inches i have noticed in a lot of your pics there seems to be a abundance of the white of stuff. i keep telling the wife i want to move up north.

Bishop

[mullet]

   Bishop,Hurricane Andrew a few years back was a wake-up call for Florideans.Keeping a supply of batteries and propane and other essential goods is a way of life for most people here.The people in New Orleans thought it would never happen and just weren't prepared.The biggest thing here is getting gasoline for your car and ice for your food.

[Bishop]

popped outside my door this morning and took a few snaps, snow is still falling buts its been a good 24hrs since i heard a tree fall...



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[Marc St Louis]

When power goes out in the north during the winter months you don't need to worry about food spoilage. Freezing to death on the other hand is a possibility especially with those that do not heat with wood. Takes about 5 days before temperatures start to drop below freezing inside an unheated house in temperatures around -20 even when it is insulated.

[Otoe Bow]

Bishop:  I hope you got better weather today.  We actually saw the sun and temps got up into the mid 40's today.  Today was one of the first times I've gotten to drive around our town and country side in the daylight and it's devastating.  The bright colored wood visible where a limb snapped off or a trunk split really stand out in contrast to the gray of the leaf barren trees.  I'm sure after a summer or two the wood will turn a weathered gray and leaves will hide the damage, but right now it's pretty depressing. 

Otoe 

[Sidewinder]

Bishop, glad to hear you guys are doing OK. Yeah, being prepared is a good thing. I have always said we are a power outage away from being primitive. The simpler times is what I think we long for. There are alot of skills that are being lost because things are so much more convenient. Thats what appeals to me about the things and people that are on this site. We share a common awareness that most people in society don't even know they are missing. I look forward to seeing you in the spring.   Danny