I am married to a 55-year-old “boy scout.” Over the several years we’ve been together, I’ve learned a lot about how and why to be prepared for disaster. I’ve never questioned his wisdom or strategy in stocking emergency supplies, both the kind you consume and the kind that make being without electricity for days on end possible and maybe even comfortable. Early on in our relationship he explained it to me as equivalent to an insurance policy.
As A Kid
He’s been practicing prepping a long time now. When he was a kid, weekends meant hiking, backpacking, overnight camping in the woods, or all of the above. To my family, being outdoors meant spending an afternoon at the beach. We packed a blanket and towels, a jug of iced tea, sunscreen, and maybe our lunch.
Yet, my mother had prepper tendencies, at least in the food department. Her pantry was always stocked with two or three more of everything we consumed on a regular basis. They were “backups”, as she called them. Even after us kids were grown and out of the house, one was unlikely to go hungry in my mother’s house.
So Much More
There is so much more to being ready for an emergency, however, than having ample food in the house. I learned this firsthand over the last few months when where we live became the target of two hurricanes and an early winter storm that dumped a year’s worth of snow in a single weekend.
