We lose grid power a lot here. So we’ve learned how to be less powerless about it. The squirrels are all like “hey do you think you have enough dry goods stashed lady?” And I’m like “quit sassing me squirrel! …Are you going to eat that acorn?”
The headlamps are always hung on the hooks with care here… But we also do some things now whenever we know storms, or even high winds, are coming.
Here’s a few of them, in the hopes they might be useful to you too.
- 💦 Stash water. For drinking and for flushing. My newest trick is to also fill the sink with hot soapy water. Being able to wash a dish during a power outage is wonderful.
- 🐤 Look after the animals. Baton hatches, fill backup waterers, work out alternate heating solutions. We have options, they don’t.
- ❄️ Fill a small cooler. Pull essentials we might want out of the fridge and into a cooler with an ice pack.
- 🧼 Wash dishes — and ourselves if we have time. For dishes, pans that can go on the BBQ or fire especially.
- 👔 Tie the fridge shut as soon as the power goes. Or put a chair in front of it. Habits are *powerful*! A fridge or freezer can stay cold and foodsafe for ages if left closed. But you throw that under the bus when you go to grab the milk before your brain kicks in…
- 🔋Charge phones.
- 🗄️Tidy up. We might be walking around with less or no light. Tripping over that laundry basket you forgot was there is going to suuuck.
- ☀️Do things that need light while there’s daylight. If the outage was unexpected, that might mean prepping for when it gets dark. But it might be recreation if everything is squared away. Read books while the sun shines.
- ☕Boil water and put it in a good thermos. There is nothing a cup of tea can’t make a little better.
📝And for next time — make a list of what you’re missing/wish you’d done or have during the outage. You won’t think about how that bathroom has no natural light and could really use a battery powered lamp in it while the power is on, but boy howdy it’ll be top of mind when it’s off.
We hope everyone came through this weekend’s storms and outages safe and sound.
~Kate