‘TWAS A NEAR VEER, DEAR…

When Hurricane Dorian was drawing near

And looked as if it would hit right here,

I feared for the woman whom I hold dear

And even for our resident deer,

We worried about these residents of our property too.

(Not to mention my own rear)!

We had food, and water, and meds, and beer,

Generator to AED – all of the gear,

And were ready to stay it out right here,

And prepared to bug out, if we had to get clear.

Fortunately, however, the storm did veer –

And we never had to shed a tear:

Preparation had still been the antidote to fear.

As Florida prepped for the monster storm, I kept hearing the term “worrycane.” People terrified of a weather apocalypse.  The long-time residents here in Hurricane Alley were wishing each other “Happy Hurricane” when we met at the store or the post office.  Sometimes practicality just sounds fatalistic.

The Evil Princess and I had been through these before, and had discovered that for the prepared, it was more of an adventure than a disaster.  We were prepared.  Fortunately, we didn’t have to experience adventure or disaster.

Backwoods Home – the magazine, books, the website, the blogs like this one, and indeed the whole concept – were built on the foundational value of self-reliance.  Of individual ability and freedom combined with a sense of community.  Click back to the blog entry that immediately preceded this one here, and look at how many helpful blog readers responded to one person’s request for information on survival prepping. At the risk of cliché, “It’s what we do here – it’s who we are.”

Thoughts and prayers to those in the long and brutal path of that terrible storm who were not so fortunate as the Evil Princess and me, and to all those who helped those in need.

Here’s a cute evacuation notice from a satire site: https://babylonbee.com/news/residents-of-florida-urged-to-evacuate-not-because-of-hurricane-but-just-because-its-florida

14 COMMENTS

  1. WOW! Great poem! You’re a poet, and now we all know it! I think that just may be the best poem written in this century. Certainly it is one of the top ten.

    Glad you were prepared, and all is fine. Time to celebrate, and have a good time!

  2. Glad Ya’ll are safe and sound. Always a good idea to prepare throughout the year and not do the last minute panic shop shuffle that so many do. Of course I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.

  3. Mas – Glad to hear that you and the EP are all safe and sound. I am praying that the remaining folks in the path of this hurricane come out OK too.

    As for your poem, all I can add is that:

    If food becomes dear
    and hunger draws near
    and loaded guns are in your gear
    You can make biltong out of those deer!

    🙂

  4. As most of us know, there are two kinds of folks – those who think ahead and prepare and those who just let things happen, expecting others to be there when needed. You can’t anticipate every possibility, but you can prepare for those things that are most likely to happen, and use good judgement as to what can happen and how much to prepare. As the saying goes, it’s much better to have and not need than need and not have.

    • I have 200, carefully selected Facebook friends, and I posted there, asking what kinds of things people were doing to prepare for a weather emergency, or a civil disruption, or a terrorist attack.

      Three people responded. And their answer?

      Nothing.

      One person joked that they had a case of rum, and they were set.

      One thing that I think about is what happened in Abaco. Let’s say you prepared, and set up your house with what you needed?

      The hurricane there wiped out all of the houses. All of your food, water, guns, ammo, and the rest would be gone.

      Maybe the answer is don’t live in a hurricane zone.

  5. Yes, I too fled the frozen wasteland and landed in SC! The ‘Upstate’ typically fairs better in hurricane season. As much as I long for the coast (this is the furthest I have evah been from lobstah and clam chowdah) I intentionally strayed away from Hurricane Lane and Tornado alley!

    Now, I get to help evacuees from nursing homes and military bases by dispatching motor coaches to safety! It has been beeeezeee this week for sure! Thanks to all who help those in need when Mother Nature gets in a fury!

    Blessings to all.

  6. Glad y’all made out OK. The prank evacuation thing left out quite a few of the peculiarities of life in Florida that I can do without.

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