About Me

This is my first post.  I haven't even set up my template yet, but I wanted to get started. 

I know a lot about being prepared.  I was raised having to think ahead, and also figure out how to make do and make it work.  It has come naturally to me.   It does not feel hard.  It does not feel stressful.  It makes your life easier.  Sometimes I don’t understand how living a life under constant and consistent preparedness is not  just a natural way for everyone.   

Being a woman, and now in my 50’s, I look back and realize that for my generation, I experienced much harder circumstances than most people my age.  I learned things that the generation before me also knew.  The trials I went through helped me to learn early a lot of basic skills that built my confidence, and I knew at a young age that I could weather just about anything sent my way.  This is one of the reasons that I understand how to “prepare sensibly”, and to “live sensibly”.

I was raised in a mountain town in California, which we called “The Village”, of about 350 people, very concentrated for about ½ the homes, but the rest spread out over a lot of rough, steep, mountainous terrain.   The canyon was so narrow, that the concentrated area of small homes were only about 8 homes wide, with a creek running along side both sides of the canyon. The only commerce in The Village was a snack shop, and a restaurant/bar. 

We lived about a 30 minute drive from any store.  It was a winding, and sometimes very treacherous road, up a fairly narrow canyon, passing through 2 tunnels to get  home.  As a kid, it seemed liked it took FOREVER!  The road ended 4 more miles past The Village at the ski resort, with no other way out of the canyon.  If any snow, ice, rock slide, fire or a car accident blocked the road, you could not pass through.  There were many times when we would be cut off from the city below.  

There were times that the creeks that ran along side the homes overflowed it’s bounds, and flooding occurred.  I was evacuated in a loader during one of those times when I was in 7^th grade.  With that particular flood, one of our resident’s home slid off the mountain, killing several in the family.   It was a horrible tragedy. 

I also remember forest fires that occurred.  We only had a volunteer fire department, and when bad, then the Forest Service Rangers would also arrive to fight the fires.  The fires were the most frightening to me.

Sometimes we went without running water for up to a week at a time.  We would walk to one of the creeks, and carry back buckets of water.  I learned how to be very careful with water use, and how to keep sanitation safe when there is very little water.

It was also in the days of the very small white, round refrigerators, and an even smaller freezer built in to the fridge.  You were only able to store a few ½ gallon milk cartons, 1-2 dozen eggs, some meat, a little cheese, etc.  Most produce had to be kept out of the fridge, as there was not enough room inside.  Leftovers had to be used up at the next meal/day, as there was only room for 1 or two items.

Another challenge was that most families were much larger than they are now.  I was one of 7 children in our family.  We had a 2 and ½ bedroom house, which most people called a cabin.  That always bothered me, as to me, it was my home, and definitely a house. 

My house was not made of logs, or anything so nice.  It was a stick frame, wood shingles on the outside, knotty pine on the inside, and had a tarpaper roof, that would sometimes leak a lot.   The foundation was made of stacked rocks, and raccoons lived under our house.  We had only one small potbelly stove for heat, in which we burned both wood and sometimes coal (we’ll discuss that later).

We drank powdered milk (back then it was NOT GOOD), sometimes mixed with whole milk to help with the flavor, and make the store bought milk stretch.  We ate a lot of dried and canned fruits, and most vegetables were canned.   Tuna was a main protein staple.   Macaroni casseroles, oatmeal, ground wheat cereal, peanut butter and jelly (or honey) was also a big part of my childhood.

When we wanted treats, we baked.  Oatmeal, chocolate chip, peanut butter and snickerdoodle cookies were my specialties as a child.  Cakes were harder, as we did not use cake mixes, but most worked out.   Cooking gave me so much confidence, and I felt in control of my own environment.  How many 8 year olds in this age have any idea how to bake? 

People helped each other out a lot.   Food was borrowed when people ran out of particular items.   A trip “down the hill” took a lot of time and gas, and even though gas was less than 25 cents per gallon, it still was expensive.  When you did get down to the store, the borrowed item would be purchased, and returned.  There weren’t any “handouts”.  The thought of being on welfare was abhorred.  Being self-reliant was a goal for almost everyone.

Because of these reasons I have discussed above, and for other reasons, I feel I have a lot to offer in this area.  I will be posting thoughts and ideas that I hope will help you in your efforts.  Please let me know your thoughts also. 

Sincerely,

Laurie