Be Prepared & Ask For Help

Well, the snow is deeper this morning but the electricity is still on, so I won't complain.  We go out to water the animals several times a day because it freezes within minutes if we leave it, and I am more thankful than ever to have a roof over my head and to have taken time to prepare for these hard times.  Hard times always come.  It's one of the few things in this life that you can count on.

We took these photos weeks ago, before the storm, but even then we were preparing for winter to last a while longer.  We have to.  When natural disasters hit, we are the last to get help.  It's been that way as long as I've lived here.  As a child when the power went out, I remember friends calling and saying their electricity had been on for days, why wasn't mine.  Because they lived in the city and I lived in the country, which means I was lower priority.  It seemed unfair when I was young, but it taught me life isn't fair and to take care of myself because you can't always count on someone coming to save you.  

Not everyone had that experience growing up and many people were totally unprepared for this major snow storm in spite of the fact that all the weather channels were warning people for over a week about what was coming.  The first day of the storm I saw a bevy of social media posts begging for help.  It is utterly heart breaking to see posts like this.  There are people who need help and people who want to give help and there is no way to get help to them now.  In order for someone to help those in need, they'd have to risk their lives on dangerous roads to bring them the firewood, propane, and food they desperately need.

Some people can't afford to "stock up", I get that, but that doesn't mean they can't prepare.  If a person needs help preparing for something like this, it is perfectly ok, more than ok it's the most kind and wise thing a person can do, to ask for help BEFORE the crisis, not in the middle of it when there are hundreds of others asking too and you are literally asking people to put their lives on the line to do something they could have safely and easily helped with a week ago.  So, why wait?  Let's take care of each other in this way.

The madness of all the Covid lockdowns was not so long ago that people should have forgotten it, and yet we have, so I will say this again: BE PREPARED.  It doesn't cost much to buy a few extra cans of food each grocery trip, or to set aside a few extra dollars here and there so you can buy some extra propane.  And if a person can't afford to do that, I don't know any food pantry or charity service that would turn someone away for saying, There's a blizzard coming, can I please get some extra food this week and can someone please help me get firewood.  In fact, all the food pantry volunteers I know would appreciate it, because they are elderly and can't drive at night let alone get out in a blizzard to deliver food or supplies no matter how much they want to.

If the long lines, empty shelves and general madness of last year's lockdown taught us anything it's that preparedness isn't just for people who live far away from conveniences or in extreme climates.  This is something that benefits everyone, the helpers and those in need.  It's a state of mind in which you understand that there are times when help can't reach you and you make provisions to take care of yourself and your family.  It is empowering.  This is what you do for you and if you can't do it alone, that's ok.  There are plenty of people who want to help and plenty of organizations set up to help, so help them to do their job safely by asking for that help before it's a matter of life or death for you or for them, and let's take care of each other.