Tuesday, May 18, 2010

What's The Plan?

When spring rolls around, I begin thinking about self reliance and what I need to do this summer to make my family more independent. And my thoughts this spring have focused on The Plan.

I'm trying to formulate a simple plan to make sure that I can always take care of the basic needs of my family, no matter what happens.

So, I've been asking myself this question: What things do we need or what preparations do I need to make in order to take care of my family....

... if I don't have electricity/gas.
... if I don't have shelter.
... if if it is winter and extremely cold or wet.
... if it is summer and extremely hot or dry.
... if I cannot get fuel.
... if water service were disrupted.
... if someone is sick or hurt.
... if we were to lose our employment.
... if food became scarce or unavailable.
... if transportation by vehicle became impossible.
... if I had to evacuate my home quickly.
... if telephone, cel, and internet communication did not work.
... if family members became separated.

Watching the collective meltdown of the entire city of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina showed me that things can go from inconvenient to desperate very quickly, even with the assistance of the Red Cross and other organizations doing their best to bring relief.

The thing I learned from watching all of that is this: Plan so you can take care of yourself and your family.

What's your plan?