RetroRevolution

I’ve known the story of The Ant and the Grasshopper since I was little.  I remember reading it in a big book of stories along with the tales of the Huckabuck family.  I hadn’t thought about it for a long time and then I saw a Pixar film back in 1998 called A Bug’s Life.  The film was basically a retelling of The Ant and the Grasshopper, with a bit of Three Amigos thrown in for comedy and a bit of Seven Samurai or The Magnificent Seven for a touch of class.  Again this classic fable by Aesop faded from my mind, until it was brought back to the forefront in a podcast by Jack Spirco.

I had just been through another 4th of July weekend storm and our small town had lost a bit of power.  There were people milling about the grocery store wondering how they would cook without power.  There were people wondering how they would get gas with the gas stations closed because of a power outage, even though 5 miles down the road there were stations open with power.  That’s when I decided that this was ridiculous.  I had been a subscriber to Backwoods Home Magazine for a few years and occasionally visited their forum.  Someone had posted a link to something called The Survival Podcast. I had never listened to a podcast.  I assumed they were about things like bands, TV shows, and which Star Trek cast was the best.  Boy was I wrong. Jack’s Podcast back then had only just started.  He recorded it in a car and talked about being prepared so you didn’t need to worry about being surprised. A couple months later in September he posted a podcast about The Ant and The Grasshopper. He went out of his way to point out that in the original story the grasshopper dies.  I cheered.  I hate sanitized stories.  But the tellling reminded me of the power of fables and parables.  Jack and the crew at The Survival Podcast have adopted The Ant as their unofficial mascot, so I don’t go more than a couple days without thinking of this fable anymore, but I saw it on another blog today and made me think it was time to talk a bit about it myself.

The story was retold today over at Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op: The Ant and the Grasshopper.  I’m not sure where the story posted there was sourced from, but the finale is the sanitized version where the grasshopper sees the ants handing out food and realizes how wrong he was.  I’m torn over the effort. I’m glad that the message is getting out, but I’m saddened that there is the possibility of people reading the fable and thinking that everything will be all right n the end because of he kindness of strangers.  But more on the positive.  The Simple Green Frugal Co-op is in my opinion a mainstream Green blog.  It’s at the other end of the spectrum from the Guns and MRE blogs of the survivalist community.  One of their contributors gets it.  Several of the comments to the post get it.  I see it as a coalescing of different agendas all with a common end in sight.

Remember the story of The Ant and the Grasshopper.  Checkout The Survival Podcast.  Read The Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op.  Learn the lessons of the grasshopper and be an ant.

Our pastor is doing a series at church called, “Stuff Happens”.  To quickly bring you up to speed on the sermons: Last week was on the good stuff that happens; This week was on who was actually in control and being surprised.  A question we were asked to answer was “Do you like surprises?”  A second question that was asked “Do you need to be in control to avoid surprises?”

I think that having a self-sufficient mindset truly makes answering these two questions a non-event.  Being prepared isn’t about controlling the weather, or stopping an earthquake, or making sure you don’t drive into a ditch on an icy road.  It’s about knowing what to do when one of these things happens and having the resources to deal with it when it happens.

While I don’t relish the thought of bad events happening, I am simply not going to worry about them because we have taken the steps to minimize the pain should a bad event occur.  I’m going to say that again for effect.  While I don’t relish the thought of bad events happening, I am simply not going to worry about then because we have taken steps to minimize the pain should a bad event occur.

I can imagine that a parent in the first half of the 20th century spent a good deal of time worrying about their children contracting polio.  Up until the 1950′s there was a hysteria about the transmission vector.  Pools, theatres, sports arenas, most public gathering places were closed at one time or another to prevent an outbreak of the disease.  I remember my mother telling me that at one point in her childhood she was not allowed to eat a Popsicle because there was a rumor that they caused polio.  Then this changed.  There was a vaccine and I’ve never given a second thought to one of my children contracting polio.  I took some simple steps to minimize the chances of them becoming infected and now I don’t worry about it.  The vaccine itself is not without risk, but it is everything I can do with reasonable effort to protect my children from that disaster.

The same mentality applies to other disasters.  If the power goes out because of an ice storm, we have a backup generator.  If we were snowed in for a week or two due to a large blizzard, we would be fine.  We have alternate heating sources, backup lighting, emergency food and water supplies, and plenty of OTC medications to get us through all but the worst of emergencies.  We have taken reasonable steps to protect ourselves from natural disasters.

Do I like surprises? No.  But I will not live in fear of them either.

Do I need to be in control to avoid surprises? No.  I am in control of my preparations for the response to the surprise and by preparing, I will minimize the impact of the surprise.

Remember…Simple steps to a simpler life for a better future.  When stuff happens, it’s the simple things that keep working.  The complex ones have a tendency to fail.

Last week there was a devastating earth quake in Haiti.  Thousands upon thousands of people are without clean water, food to eat, or medical supplies to handle even simple cuts and scrapes.  The quake was centered near the dense urban area of the coastal city Port-Au-Prince.  Many structures collapsed, roads became impassable, and public services were virtually knocked out in a matter of moments as the earth heaved and the ground split open.  The loss of life directly related to the quake and collapsing buildings and structures is enormous, but the potential loss of life from disease and suffering is an order of magnitude larger.

Preparing Hygiene Kits for Haiti

My family and I are blessed to be in the position to donate some hygiene supplies to be shipped to Haiti to provide relief for those that survived the quake, but are suffering through the aftermath.  A new church in the area organized a gathering for families and individuals in our community to drop off materials and assemble the kits for delivery to UMCOR.  The sense of community and caring was overwhelming.  Participants of all ages were active in the assembly simple kits containing:

• 1 hand towel (15″ x 25″ up to 17″ x 27″, No kitchen towels)
• 1 washcloth
• 1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
• 1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
• 1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
• 1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, No child-size brushes)
• 6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages
• $1.00 to purchase toothpaste (toothpaste will be purchased in bulk, after we put the kits together, to be added before shipping to ensure that the product does not expire before they are sent.)

This list of materials was provided to the church by the UMCOR.

I couldn’t help but think what if the situation was reversed.  What if there had been an earthquake here in Michigan, or a flood, or a tornado.  How many of these caring, generous individuals have even this simple level of preparation for their own family?  If the disaster were here, they couldn’t go to a local store and buy them for themselves.  If they had them for themselves, would they be in a position to provide an extra set of supplies for a neighbor or friend that might need some?

Many of you that read this may store other essential items besides food.  You might have extra soap, and toothpaste stored.  Many of you might not have considered keeping a few of these essentials around.  Try to remember the effort you see put forth here by caring individuals, and recognize that this could happen to you, where you live;  in your town or state.  Think of your friends and neighbors and if you would be in a position to help them if they came knocking on your door after a hurricane hits.

I personally suggest at the bare minimum having a small bag like this ready to grab at a moments notice should you need to evacuate your home in the time of disaster.    Keep a small supply of your medications (that you rotate out monthly) in the bag as well.  What would you do if a tanker spilled some chemicals just down the street from your house?  You might only need to evacuate for 72 hours, but wouldn’t those 72 hours be a lot more comfortable if you had the bare necessities of what you might need.  Things like your blood pressure medication, your pain medication, or an anti-depressant you might be taking?  Why unnecessarily exacerbate a stressful situation with high blood pressure, pain, or depression?

The list above is in no way a recommendation of what I recommend.  It is a starting point for people who may have nothing prepared.  At the bare minimum have one of these kits available for yourself.  Take the time to go to www.ready.gov and prepare some of the items they recommend.

Take the time to put aside a little extra so you can help yourself and your friends and neighbors in a time of need even if you are also in need.