Preparation and the Lack Thereof

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  • Preparation and the Lack Thereof
    Preparation and the Lack Thereof
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I know I have talked here before about self-sufficiency. I would imagine most people in San Saba County operate at a higher level of self-sufficiency than does the average urbanite or suburbanite. When a person lives out away from shops that are open 24/7, same day delivery of nearly anything, and services of various types, that person must be more self-sufficient.

Never have I been more glad to be self-sufficient than during the arctic weather we experienced a couple of weeks ago. To be clear, there were many things that we could have been better prepared for, and we in northern San Saba County had a way easier time of things than did the folks in the path of the ice storms, like those in Gillespie County. I will take powdery snow over ice any day.

Making the choice 10 years ago to switch to a propane stove and to install a small propane space heater made me feel pretty smart. I felt especially smart when I was making coffee in my little stovetop espresso maker every morning and heating water on the stove for a washrag bath every evening. Another thing that made me feel smart is the well-stocked pantry that I keep. A year ago at the start of the pandemic, I got caught with my pants down by being completely out of flour, so when I found a 25-pound bag, I bought it. Since then, I have kept very close tabs on that pantry.

Let me assure you that there were plenty of things that made me feel pretty stupid, too, like not following through quickly enough with my plan to install more propane space heaters and like letting my chickens out the first day of the storm leading to three of them getting frostbitten combs. My husband and I started right in compiling a list of things we need to do differently in the future so that we will be better prepared for disasters of most any kind.

This past weekend I took a trip down to Port Arthur and can report that the landscape is devastated in Southeast Texas. Nearly every type of vegetation is brown and appears to be dead, even live oak trees. The hotels around Port Arthur and Beaumont were full of people whose houses in Houston are uninhabitable due to broken plumbing. Every big grocery store I passed from Austin down to Port Arthur was packed, and I heard people reporting that staple food items were wiped out everywhere they went. I stopped by the HEB in Lampasas to do a little restocking on the way home and found everything I needed, but some sections were completely empty. Wildlife have suffered, too, as we are hearing of die-offs of fish, birds, and exotic animals. I expect it will take a while before we have the full measure of the damage that was done.

On the positive side, I have heard many reports of people helping other people. I know of many people in our community who have stepped up and done the hard work to get us all back on track, and I would like to thank all of you. Between our tendency for self-sufficiency and our good fortune to live in a friendly rural area, I think we came out of the storm in much better shape than some of our urban neighbors. I sincerely hope that we have seen the last of our trials for awhile.

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