As I stood at the door of the plasma center Monday night, having done my part for those with immune problems and having earned $20 for five hours of boredom, I discussed the weather with another couple people waiting for their own rides to show up.
We discussed the possibility of snow versus the actual likelihood of snow, and the utter amazement we both felt at the people who, despite living in central Indiana, are Surprised! Shocked! and Thrown Off Balance by us getting snow in the winter time.
I realized as I went through the ritual of actually getting the snow shovel out and leaning it just inside the front door that the same could be said for a lot of people on hearing that we were going to have a lot of snow, or an ice storm.
This isn't a maybe thing. Sometime between now and the end of March, Indiana WILL get a large amount of snow, very fast. Whether or not it will meet blizzard criteria is something I won't speculate on, but either way, there's some expected consequences. Roads will need plowing to be navigable, and people will get trapped in their homes out in the county, because the county does not much plow the outer county roads. They will plow in the city, plowing our driveway shut, and requiring she who doesn't have COPD but does have Raynaud's phenomenon to go out and shovel it out so we can get out. There will be a rush on milk and bread and eggs at the store any time over a half-inch of snow is called for. (WTF? are there french toast party rituals I don't know about when it snows?) Someone will forget how to drive on snow, skid magnificently, and take out one of the telephone poles, killing power to large sections of the city, or an ice storm can take down power lines with tree branches.
This isn't Y2K apocalypticism. This is just simple foresight. And the good thing about foresight is that it gives me time to prepare.
The first things to consider are vulnerabilities of your utilities. Living in the city, I don't anticipate losing my water supply, since my basement is warmed enough by the furnace, and the pipes for all the house but the kitchen are run through the basement. The kitchen is normally warmed enough by the normal cooking activities daily to keep the pipes going, but if it gets very cold leaving the tap dripping will suffice.
Speaking of the furnace and heat, we have a gas furnace and water heater. As long as the gas bill is paid, we are going to be fine on that score. We got on budget billing, so we know how much the bill will be all winter. The downside of that is that there will be a massive adjustment in March or April, and like most poor people, we really can't handle a six hundred dollar gas bill. And while we CAN do without the gas on, it sucks not taking hot showers, so we try to avoid losing our gas service. That means using supplemental sources of heat and turning the furnace down. It also means planning to hoard our heat as much as we can. The hallway down to the bedroom from the dining room has a curtain over it, made simply of a spare sheet that happens to match our decor strung on a tension rod. The cats and people can pass, but it keeps the cooler air in the rooms we aren't in so much. Similarly, one is over the office doorway, between it and the front room. We spend most of our time in the office anyway. We have a supplemental electric heater in here that is currently chugging contentedly away behind me, and my husband happened to pick up two kerosene heaters on trash day (what people will throw away!) and so if the electricity goes out, we can get through the time that it would be off by using the kerosene heaters.
If the electricity goes out, while not having the internet will suck, there's always paper books, talking with my husband, and sleeping. We have candles and oil lamps that we picked up at garage sales, and while they look decorative, they work to illuminate the house at a minimal level when lit. Hopefully the Angora cat won't set her tail on fire again this year. The electricity is in the rent, so that's not a separate bill.
Next, I have to consider food. I'm not really worried about that, since I keep a pantry, but let's consider that perishable food items issue. Eggs keep quite a while in the refrigerator. I generally have at least a dozen and maybe two dozen, cycling the eggs on a first in first out policy, in the fridge. That will get me through a week's enforced vacation time. I don't drink milk as a beverage, so while I've usually got a gallon, I also have a box of dry milk, for baking, and for just in case. And as far as bread goes, if I can't get out to get it, I'll bake my own. I can do biscuits in thirty minutes, and yeast bread takes about three hours or so, depending on the recipe. I'll just make sure I have the requisites in the pantry; flour, yeast in the refrigerator, butter in the freezer, and the grey sea salt.
But I have cats, so I need to consider them too, both on the feeding end and the "sanitary" end. I like to keep an extra supply of both cat food and litter in the house. It's useful when we encounter an unexpected expense, and it's not really picky where it's stored. I keep old cat litter containers and use them. Same for the dog's food. As long as I can get the door open she'll go out, no problem.
And my own clothing needs to be thought about. I have circulatory issues in hands and feet; what can I do when I am the one who has to shovel the driveway out? I have a stout warm pair of boots and wool socks for my feet, and long underwear for my legs, and warm coats for my upper body, but I need to get myself a pair of waterproof skiing-type gloves for shoveling. I've got hats and hoods and scarves galore, and a scarf wraps to a mask just fine.
Medically speaking, it's good that it's time to get a refill on Bear's blood pressure meds; he gets three months at a time, and that will take us through the worst of it. Whatever happens, he'll get his medication, and he's got plenty of the inhalable stuff for his COPD. When I get on my meds, I intend to build up a week's reserve so that just in case I can't get in to fill my meds, I'm not entirely screwed. And I'll keep the OTC things that can halfway help around.
Speaking of meds, I know I'll get a cold this winter. Or he will. It's not extravagant to buy the lotion-filled tissues in advance, or to get a box of the decongestant that you know will work on your head. Grab it when it's on sale.
Just going through a checklist like this is reassuring to me, because it reassures me of the things that are ready, and alerts me to the things I do still need to get. And since I'm poor, knowing in advance lets me look for what I need and get it in good time.
And once you're prepared, you can sit back and calmly restructure your day, start a pot of stew on the stove, and relax. Whatever happens, you'll be okay, and that's a feeling to be enjoyed.