The past year, I have battled with a nagging gut feeling that I could not put a finger on. Sometimes, it would ease, but not go away. When that happens, I know something is trying to get my attention. With the whirlwind that goes on in my brain, I understand why catching and holding onto a single thought sometimes takes awhile. I am not small or narrow minded, I think locally and globally. I am not an expert on anything, but I have knowledge of a lot of areas. Therefore, a single thought...just rarely happens.
I have spent the course of a decade, working to make my family as self-sufficient as possible. We live very rural, so part of that is due to our geographical location. The other part, however, felt like a need. You will find I "feel" things, and that is my gut/intuition trying to push me toward my path in life. I have felt/intuitively believed that we needed to be a majority self-sufficient and not dependent on much. With a 2 year pause, it set back my intuitive knowing of where we needed to be. I've been playing catch up now for 4 years...and we still are not there. With that said, I am at a dead run to get where we need to be as quickly as possible now.
I know many will take the rest of this blog as political, but I can promise you, it's not. There are 2 sides but it's not R vs. D. It's government vs. the people. So, understand that. I do not want to get off course here, so moving on! I have spent YEARS, telling people to always keep some sort of food supply. I usually start reminding people in the Fall, for the Winter months. However, right now, if you don't have a minimum of 6 months of supply of food, water, supplies, etc. you better get to hopping! While the MSM is all wrapped up in the Depp trial, they are neglecting to inform the people of the supply chain mess. As of the last time I checked, China had shut down it's 2 major ports - Shanghai, and Bejing. There tens of thousands or more, ships camped out; not able to get in or out of those ports. Such a large portion of the goods and even food, we have today is being shipped from China. Do you understand what this means for our supplies here in the states? It means, as shelves empty, there is NOTHING coming into our ports to replenish those empty shelves. Sure, the backlog of ships in our own ports have diminished, that is because there are no more coming in! Use your heads! Whether this is deliberate or not is not of my concern. My concern is We The People! Are you and your family, your pets - will you survive the fallout?
Recently, I shared a video on my social media, once I shared it with my family. I was pretty irritated by their response, so I can only imagine how few others actually watched it and took action. You can binge watch NetFlix but you can't watch an hour video on things to consider to make sure you and your family survive whatever chaos is coming down the pike? You can watch hours of NCIS or whatever, but can't sit still enough to watch a video of importance?! Herein lies the problem with so many. For several generations, we have had it easy! We have always had an abundance. We have had things at our fingertips for 30+ years. We have been able to consume till our hearts are content. Do any of you remember just 2 years ago, when the toilet paper shelves were empty? Do you remember how many people were in panic mode?! Imagine, that 100 fold bigger, when the actual food is disappearing! Imagine not being able to feed your kids, grandkids, or pets! Imagine being given a ration as they did just 2 years ago. What would you do if you could only buy 1 or 2 cans of vegetables, and 1 or 2 pounds of meat. Personally, I will not be standing in a breadline...and before I get grief, you all have no idea how close we are! When economists are stating we are in a recession, food processing plants are catching on fire or having planes flown into them, ships are stopped coming out of China, and our fuel supply costs are doubled from just 18 months ago. You better be getting your head on right. I'm not saying to go out and become a prepper with years of supplies. I am saying you better plan for a minimum of 6 months. Even when the Chinese open up there ports, we are looking at the minimum of 6 months to replenish what we get. So, you are looking at about a year of supplies. For most of us, that isn't possible - between our financial status and actual space...it's not necessarily realistic. Even though it should be.
I am a huge supporter of growing and raising your own foods, preserving them, and buying locally produced foods. However, I am not above buying items that have a long shelf life. Meaning, canned goods, boxed goods, dried foods; those types of things. In the video I shared, there were a lot of great ideas that not everyone would think of, some even I didn't. I know there are several that will be slow on the uptake, but I hope you will start now - even if it's just $20 a week in items you can stock pile. Here's a few things that I personally, believe should be on the list of items to start stocking up on:
Canned goods - (soups, vegetables, stews), water - (bottled and gallons), first aid supplies, pet & livestock foods/minerals, veterinary supplies, paper products - (no, don't make a shortage of toilet paper again - but figure out what you go through in a month and pick up a package every week till you reach where you need to be - paper cups/plates if you use them, storage containers/bags, paper towels), coffee or your go to beverages(coffee, tea bags, filters, etc.), spices(you can store these in air-tight containers for months, sugar, salt, flour, corn starch, and even canned goods can be made palatable with some spice), seeds, gardening tools(even if you plant in containers, having hand tools will help), cleaning supplies - no matter what is happening in the world, we feel better when there is cleanliness - household and body!
This is a short list! Start learning who your local farmers/gardeners are! There are so many that are happy to sell directly and cut out the middlemen. Learn the art of bartering. Become friends with your local farmers/gardeners, egg lady, and those that have a skill you don't. If you are in a relationship - stop behaving like a loath and become a partner in the prep work. If you have children, include them - even if that means dragging them kicking and screaming. We are in some seriously troubling times, and the economic outlooks are looking worse by the day! It's time we are all going back to our roots and using a more productive than consumable mind set. Start researching depression era recipes and lessons learned during that time. There is some incredible sources for both online!
Folks, we need to be proactive. We need to prepare for the worst and pray for the best. Start preparing your pantries for as long of a span as you can, as quickly as you can. You may be able to use those extra items to barter or trade with, if need be. You may be able to help someone else, down the road with whatever extras you can get now. Think about your own family, and your neighbors. It's past time to pull our heads out of the sand. It's time to get busy, to get prepared; so we can weather the storm that is here and the bigger storm that is knocking at our doors.
Many blessings!
Salli
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