Prepping

Your cousin Ned and some of his buddies are in the woods.  They’re shooting cans and talking about how long their beans and canned rabbit are going to last if kept away from light.  There’s some dispute on the matter but one thing that they all agree on: these monthly training sessions and the fact that they hiked in this general area several times as kids is going to make them a superior fighting force compared to highly trained US Marines who are sure to someday be the enemy because ….. um …. uh …. maybe they’re coming for our beer.

Ah preppers.  Whether its zombies or right wing terrorism or left wing terrorism or the hand of The Almighty, preppers are going to be ready for crisis with dried milk and a cup of crazy.

Prepping isn’t new, but it’s less extreme forms are gaining in popularity.  Climate change and all the subtle changes its’ causing already are making more and more people think about what might not be available that they might want on hand.  I’ve been a prepper all my life.  As a kid, I stocked up on my favorite gum when it looked like the flavor might be discontinued.  As a teen, I squirreled away bits of my paycheck in the event I lost my job.  As an adult, I successfully prepped for the most catastrophic event known to man: 2 kids under the age of 7 when mom suddenly has the flu.  See, prepping isn’t all guns and beans.  Sometimes its meals that toddlers can eat cold and some cold medicine.  And then sometimes its guns and beans.  I guess it depends on your anticipated emergency.

My viewpoint on prepping is that you should be preparing yourself and your family for a variety of events.  Illness, loss of a job, bad weather, death of spouse, car trouble, civil unrest, riots, government collapse, agricultural collapse, natural disaster, and the list goes on and on.  Some of these may seem unlikely, yet even in my pretty boring life I’ve experienced some of the big ones on this list.  I’ve lost everything to a hurricane.  I’ve had to evacuate small children in the night during a fire.  I’ve even seen riots in the streets and had to go through a police checkpoint to get in and out of my neighborhood.  Weird things happen in life.  You should be prepared.

So from time to time we’re going to have a talk about risks that we face and how to be better prepared to face them head on, whether that’s with a mason jar of stewed rabbit or a life insurance policy.