Weekend Without Power
A Quick Story and a Challenge

In last week's edition of Survival Scout, my fellow preparedness advisor Elizabeth talked about the power of a story to encourage people to get prepared. You can read that article here: click to read.

Elizabeth inspired me to tell my own story. Here's how I got into preparedness:

When my kids were young, my job at the time required a lot of moving around. We arrived in Niagara Falls, New York in October so I could start a new assignment.

The first thing my neighbor told me when he found out I was from the South was "Buy a generator - you'll need it this winter."

As the weather got colder, I finally took his advice. I bought a gas generator, put it in the garage - then forgot about it.

One night, I woke up shivering. An ice storm had knocked the power out in the whole neighborhood.

I fumbled through the house, trying to find my flashlight. Let that be a tip to you - always know where your flashlights are.

Then it was on to the generator. To spare you all the details - and my potential embarrassment - I couldn't get the generator working.

I headed back into the house, which was nearly as cold as the outdoors at this point. I started a fire in the fireplace. Success!

Now feeling confident, I grabbed all the food from the refrigerator and freezer, put them into separate coolers, and stored them outside.

The food we had was enough to get us through the whole weekend without power. It was also fun cooking over the open hearth.

But after that weekend, I knew I needed to have backup food on hand - or else survival for much longer would be impossible.

Both my wife and I have been committed to preparedness ever since. I've also learned how to operate nearly every generator produced on this green earth - so I'll never repeat my mistake on a cold night again.

Test Yourself!

To close today's preparedness advice, I might suggest you run a "test" of how you would handle a weekend without power.

Think of it like camping - but at home. You might learn some things about your preparedness plan that you need to correct. That way, you can make sure that when the real thing happens, you're ready.

Hope this helps you along in your preparedness journey. Have a great weekend, friends - with or without power!

In Liberty,

Grant Miller, Preparedness Advisor