Eyes to See and Being Prepared

I’ve been enjoying Mountain Fire Keepers latest video recording of the “Powers Out” workshop. The predicament we all find ourselves in of complete reliance on the electrical system is something that is almost continually on the back of my mind. Just try going without electricity for a day or two or three and see exactly how much our lives are intertwined with the grid. Even now as I write this post I can hear the hum and buzz of the washing machine in the background. Since the washer is using warm water, the power vent on the water heater is humming along as well. The refrigerator is also mingled in with all that background noise as it is calling for another cycle of cooling. Or how about the constant drone of the this computer I’m sitting at.

We are so used to the noise it’s almost deafening when the power does go out. It becomes so quiet that it’s almost eerie. That fact alone makes me realize just how much electricity is a part of my life.

I remember a time as a city kid when I took all that for granted. You just flip a switch and the light goes on. No thought of how it happened. It just magically comes on, presto the whole room is illuminated, you don’t need to know why or how it happens, it just does. The hardest thing about it is having to replace a burnt out light bulb. Or there was the occasional outing during a thunder storm and that was always a cause for excitement because we got to go around the house with lit candles and flash lights, a great novelty for a young boy.

The older I got the more I realized that the electrical system was just that, a system. Just an elaborate piece of machinery. And machines are subject to failure. That to me is enough to consider having a plan in place to do without electricity if need be. To be prepared. The fact that if at any time and for whatever reason the system could break down either for the short or long term is a very good reason to have a real working plan ready to go into effect should something happen. And really it’s not a matter of if, but when, because there is no such thing as a perpetual motion machine. All systems and machinery need energy, fuel and maintenance. Which is all subject to breakdowns. Break downs in the system and or the machinery itself. Just ask people living in Iraq how easy it is for the power supply to become disrupted. How many years has it been now, for them? Many of them are having to make do with major disruptions or go without entirely.

For us in America we are used to having our conveniences. Many of us are just born into it and we don’t know any other way. Not just with electricity but, also with our food supply. Our food is provided to us by a system and machinery as well. We don’t know any other way. We grew up just going to the store and buying everything we need with no real thought to it. Not much different than just flipping on that light switch. It becomes automatic and you don’t even have to think about it.

With that in mind it’s a real shock to us when we are forced to have anything less than what we are used to. It seems we are dependant on and even addicted to these conveiences that have become vice. We almost can’t do without. It’s like pulling teeth to release the level of comfort we are used to. Look how so many people were taken back when the levies failed in New Orleans. Actually that is a perfect example of what I’m talking about right now. Any body with common sense can look at those dikes and see that it’s just a matter of time till something happens and the whole place is sitting under water. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know it’s gonna happen eventually which it did. I mean duh, the entire place is below sea level!

The same thing can be said of the system that we have become so used to. It’s all interconnected and if there is a major disruption it has a ripple effect and it wouldn’t take much for the whole system to come grinding to a hault. It just makes sense to have a plan and not just for a few days disruption. A few days disruption is only a minor inconvenience or to some, an annoyance. It is entirely possible that even us who live "securely" on the other side of the planet, could have long term major failures in the system. For those with eyes to see it’s just like looking at those levies and dikes in New Orleans.

The Turtle Mountain folks have most definetly got eyes to see, because they are taking it seriously and are taking practical steps to be prepared. It’s just common sense.

Until Next Time