Survival...Southern Style..

Texas is known for springtime storms and windy weather and recently I experienced this first hand. A couple of months ago we were under a tornado warning which is scary to think about but nothing out of the norm for living in Texas. We took all the usual precautions...i.e, got candles ready...prepared to gather the children into the bathtub with a mattress waiting to place atop of them...etc.. I noticed that neighbors across the huge field behind the house were standing outside on top of their cars watching the sky facing towards the front of our house. I thought to myself that they must be crazy for doing that as they could get struck by lightning. Suddenly they jumped into their cars and drove away in a hurry...I was like what in the world??? I ran to the front of the house and then I saw it...a debris cloud rotation only a block away!! I screamed "TORNADO!!!" We grabbed the mattress off the bed and put them atop the children...for the first time I heard the train/wind sound which was scary. Truly a blessing from God...the house was not damaged and all were safe...unfortunately some of the members of my community nearby suffered damage to their homes. Learning from that past but recent experience left me wondering...what would we do in a disaster? A couple of weeks ago we had some strong winds which blew some branches off the tree in the front yard. I decided to cut the branch up and use it for wood to cook with in the bbq grill. I had a hard time starting the fire until I REMEMBERED how to start a wood fire...duh.. Anyways, I got the fire started and after a while I had some nice wood coals ready for cooking. Chicken was placed on the grill and cooked to perfection...now all I need is a steady supply of wood! Here are some great ideas to get you prepared for living without electricity...or in the event of a disaster. The Backwoods Home Magazine has some really great ideas. Till next time, Yarnie :)