Oct 06 2012

Ready for what life may bring?

Categories:

I am not naïve nor am I an optimist. I like to think of myself as a realist. But are our perceptions of ourselves really accurate?

My husband, Marc, and I sat in our village’s hall a few years back listening to our mayor give a speech. We attended the meeting because we thought he was going to discuss a controversial topic, but instead he was instructing the village on what to do in case of a hurricane. “We are due for a big one”, he warned.

I half listened as he went over the list of all the items we should have in our houses. I rolled my eyes as he urged us to have an evacuation plan set in advance – including knowing where we were going to stay and making sure we had all important documents with us.

This is ridiculous I thought. This will never happen I believed. I started to tune him out as I focused on my cellphone instead…..

How dumb was I? I live in a small beach community on a barrier island!

A year later a major hurricane was predicted. Irene. She was coming and heading straight for where we lived. The village was calling every resident and warning them that a mandatory evacuation may be issued. The news was cautioning everyone in a multiple state area to tie up everything outside, tape up windows and be prepared for days without electricity.

All of a sudden, the mayor’s words were becoming a reality. We were evacuated. Fortunately we attended the meeting that day so we knew that if we didn’t leave when we were told to, we wouldn’t be able to leave later. During a mandatory evacuation, at a certain time all the bridges connecting to the barrier islands are raised. You can’t get onto the islands, nor can you get off – for anything! That is scary. You are trapped!

We weren’t going to take any chances, so Marc and I packed up our “emergency bag” and headed to my cousin’s house along with our cat, Alex, and my mother who was “vacationing” from Florida.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. Emergencies happen. And you really need to be prepared, properly. We were very lucky. The storm wasn’t as bad as they predicted. We were home one day later, and never lost power. But things could have been different…

Zippo’s has a great emergency kit – it is a fire starter that has a flint wheel and a water resistant seal. It comes in a light weight case and even floats in water. It is easy to use and great for emergencies!

Since you never know when you will be faced with an emergency, this item, I think is a must have… and to help you have it, Zippo’s is giving away one fire starter and a set of extra set of tinder sticks.

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Tags: another day in paradise, beach, blog questions, give aways, Hurricane Irene, life, life at the beach, musing, stuff I can't make up, Zippo, Zippo lighters

32 comments

Marg

October 6, 2012 at 7:50 am (UTC -4)

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That looks like a great thing to have for emergencies. I used to run from hurricanes many times with 30 horses, a bunch of cats and dogs when we lived in Charleston, S.C.
Hope all of you have a great day.
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:52 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Marg – 30 horses a bunch of cats and dogs… wow!
The Florida Furkids

October 6, 2012 at 8:31 am (UTC -4)

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Living on a barrier island, we also know about being prepared. In 2004 we got hit twice…once from Frances and then again from Jeanne. We did evacuate for Frances along with our 4 cats and 1 dog. I have special fold up “tents” that I can now use in a hotel room if we have to evacuate again. We do tend to get complacent when years roll by without problems though. Where did you buy your zippo pack? I think that would be great to have!

The Florida Furkids and Mom Sharon
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:53 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Sharon – the fold up tents sound very interesting… It is so easy to get complacent… but living where we do, we have to try not to
Beth Ann

October 6, 2012 at 9:22 am (UTC -4)

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We never think it will happen to us, do we? When we lived in NC we sometimes got the hurricane remnants and it is not fun! Great idea to be prepared!
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:53 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Beth Ann – I know.. we never think anything bad will happen, but it sometimes does…
Brian

October 6, 2012 at 9:35 am (UTC -4)

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Yes, it is very wise to have an emergency plan since we never know when something will go wrong!
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:54 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Brian – you are a very wise man….
Judy

October 6, 2012 at 9:52 am (UTC -4)

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We have only had one hurricane in our city and I was too young to remember. It was 1954 and called Hurricane Hazel. We do keep our campiung stuff handy in case of a power failure and our radio has a battery backup. Everyone should have some plan of action as well as a fire escape plan.
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:55 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Judy – before this hurricane, I only remember one when I was a little girl too.. but it was no big deal.. I never expected this… Having a plan of action is so important… especially if you have it before you need it!
Susi

October 6, 2012 at 10:05 am (UTC -4)

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Zippos are great and very useful. Hubby loves them, he even has a few old ones that are pretty much collectibles! I didn’t realize they make emergency ones as well. As for the storm… we are always “prepared”, more or less, just comes with the territory living in Fl!!!
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:56 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Susi – oh yes… you are in hurricane city! We use zippos a lot too, but more for lighting candles and the big green egg… I didnt realize they made emergency ones either!
Journey of Life

October 6, 2012 at 10:54 am (UTC -4)

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Wow! I am so happy thing went fine for you and your family. That zippos thing looks great. I do have a bucket of emergency food in case of earth quake.
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:56 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Angela – we did get very lucky ( and had a lot of fun in the process hanging out at my cousins)
Tami

October 6, 2012 at 11:39 am (UTC -4)

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We lived near a power plant. There is an evacuation plan in there. I must admit I have always thought “yeah right, like this will happen”. I really need to get my act together because IT COULD HAPPEN!
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:57 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Tami – you sound like me… “yeah right” was my standard response…
caren gittleman

October 6, 2012 at 12:06 pm (UTC -4)

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you are soooo right! you never know when you just might need this! Thanks for this great opportunity! xoxo
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:58 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Caren – like the song says… life happens when you are busy making other plans…
Irene

October 6, 2012 at 3:45 pm (UTC -4)

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Please tell me you’re not preparing a survival kit for the apocalypse?
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 8:59 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Irene – me? Never… but we do have enough wine stocked up in case… better be same than sorry!
Irene

October 6, 2012 at 3:49 pm (UTC -4)

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oops, hit submit comment too soon!

Anyway, I did go out and purchase a box of Wise’s camp meals. There’s 6 meals in a box but they serve up to 2 or 3 people per meal. I’m going to back and get their bucket with 72 meals in it. And they have a shelf life of MANY years. I just have this feeling it’s going to one nasty winter here up north.

And you can never have enough stuff for an emergency.

How’s the kitchen reno going?
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 9:01 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Irene – I hope you are wrong about it being a nasty winter… The wise meals sound like a great idea. Wonder what they taste like though… The kitchen reno is going… Major work doesn’t start for another week or so, but we are getting prepared for it – feel like we are moving. We basically have nothing left in any closet or cabinet!
Karen S.

October 6, 2012 at 7:58 pm (UTC -4)

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Sometimes we just never know what’s in store for us, but we just have to carry on with faith, that all will work out!
1. hilaryg
  
  October 7, 2012 at 9:01 am (UTC -4)
  
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  karen – you have a wonderful outlook!
McGuffyAnn

October 7, 2012 at 10:37 am (UTC -4)

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One can never be too prepared.
1. hilaryg
  
  October 8, 2012 at 6:58 am (UTC -4)
  
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  McGuffy Ann – you can say that again!
My Inner Chick

October 7, 2012 at 7:50 pm (UTC -4)

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–Always good to be prepared….but quite seriously, I Never Am.

thanks for the reminders! Xxx Kissss
1. hilaryg
  
  October 8, 2012 at 6:58 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Kim – I am not either…good thing for me I married a boy scout (seriously, Marc is prepared for everything!)
Virginia Kahler-Anderson, aka HomeRearedChef

October 8, 2012 at 2:50 am (UTC -4)

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This, the ocean, scares me. Even though I LOVE the ocean. And this reminds me now that I have often had dreams that the ocean is closing in on me: the waves come closer and closer, and just when they are about to break I wake. BRRRR!!

I am glad to know you guys are safe, Hilary, and you have taught me that we should be prepared for ANYTHING. Phew!

Big virtual hugs, Amiga!
~Virginia
1. hilaryg
  
  October 8, 2012 at 7:01 am (UTC -4)
  
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  Virginia – I love the ocean too (obviously) but it is a very scary place. You really have to understand and respect it. Sadly, so many people don’t. I am always haunted by the sounds of low flying helicopters. Whenever they appear by the beach, I know that some poor soul drowned…
  
  Big hugs back!!!
William Kendall

October 11, 2012 at 1:31 pm (UTC -4)

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We rarely get more than the aftereffects of a hurricane here.

Back in the late nineties, there was a rather sizeable ice storm that hit a vast swath, from Eastern Ontario, through Quebec and New England, to the Maritimes. That did very much constitute an emergency at the time….
1. hilaryg
  
  October 12, 2012 at 6:48 am (UTC -4)
  
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  William – that storm sounds very wicked…