We are living in the strangest of times, aren't we? I've certainly never seen the likes of it and I happily entered my seventh decade earlier this year. Things are topsy-turvy in ways not seen before in my lifetime.
Husband and I have had some very serious discussions over the last two nights.
You see, three nights ago, our Prime Minister announced an increase in Defence spending. In making this announcement, he indicated that 'the world is now a much more dangerous place', and that we may, at some point in the future, be called upon to defend our borders. An alarming thought, right?
Now, my Maternal Grandparents were European, and lived through two World Wars, and the Great Depression. They immigrated here post-War with my Mother who was just 7 years old at the time. Mum spoke of this often, talking about the challenges they faced, and used her skills to raise seven children alone. Certainly I absorbed many of my homemaking skills from Mum and Nanna, as they just 'knew' this stuff. They hadn't chosen to take sewing, or embroidery or knitting or baking or mending up as a hobby. These were necessary day to day life skills.
I have shared through my blog here for many years, that I try to learn a new skill each year. Over the last decade, I have taught myself preserving, sewing, embroidery (which can also be used for mending and patching), soap making, dehydrating foods, using unusual ingredients such as dried legumes or plants indigenous to our area, or areas near us, making our own pasta, growing food, learning about easy to grow vegetables, and saving seeds, and foraging, including using what we see as 'weeds', like dandelion and nettle.
Husband is an able carpenter and builder, and is adept at solving all kinds of fix-it handyman type problems.
Mostly, then, we are okay in that department.
Our discussions mostly revolved around what we would do if we ever had to evacuate our home for an extended period. We live quite close to a military base, which you'd think should be a source of comfort, but it's really not. Maybe that's not the safest place to be? We talked this through pragmatically and calmly, and we now have The Plan. IF things really did go horribly pear-shaped in our part of the world, we know what we would do. We also know what skills we need to refine and hone, and what new skills we need to add to our toolbox. We will discuss this with family, so that they know ahead of time, what The Plan is, and how they need to enact it. We may even ask them to add some new skills to their own toolboxes.
How would you live in a world where suddenly you could only eat what you could catch or grow yourself? Where essentials were scarce or non-existent? Where you had to be self-reliant for medical care of all kinds? Where the only tools at your disposal were the type that don't need electricity or fuels of other kinds to power them? We're not just talking about camping skills. We're talking survival skills.
This thinking may seem over-the-top, but we decided we'd rather have The Plan, and the skills to act upon it, than not. It does no harm to know these things, and gives us the peace of mind and security, to know we could keep ourselves and our loved ones safe for an extended period, should the need arise.
What do you think? Could you go into Survival Mode and cope for a long time? Months? Years?
It's an interesting thought in the abstract, isn't it?
Don't wait until it's no longer an abstract thought, to act.
That's my advice....
...Mimi...
