Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Well.
We made it through.
Our second non-hurricane, hurricane, if you count last year's Labor Day storm.

Mostly tree branches, leaves, sticks and a boatload of storm food left over.

I do think we need to rethink the Hurricane Preparedness List.
A well-thought-out list, to be sure, but maybe not tailored to meet our needs - exactly.

What I have learned about hurricane preparedness lists so far that I will remember and modify before the next storm approaches is this:

Things On Their List -
Water - a gallon a day per person.
Canned food - can be prepared on a grill or eaten cold. (Cold??? Are they kidding me?)
Preserved meat - beef jerky, canned tuna, even Spam are high protein and good choices.
Paper products - for preparing and distributing meals.
And the usual things you need in a storm - tape, tarps, batteries and things to lash down stuff with.

My Amended List:
Ok, yes, yes, all of the above plus:
1. Coolers that don't smell like fish.
2. A lot more recipes on hand that include the ingredients hot dog, beans or Dinty Moore Stew. In my defense, I WILL have winter storm food on hand this year :)
3.Preserved meat products such as Spam will likely not be a hit at our storm dinners.
4. A small, but powerful supply of food-like items with the name Debbie, Snow, Ho-Ho or Pinwheel in it will be, however. (You know you are gonna crave them, so you might as well go ahead and buy them.)
3. You have batteries yes, but do you actually have the flashlights they fit into?
4. Find a raincoat that actually repels rain.
5. Make sure I have enough yarn for projects. OK, I have enough yarn already to spill out a closet, but this is exactly the kind of legitimate excuse to buy more that I am always fishing for.
6. A hubby who might just be a "bit" less cavalier when preparing for said hurricane, not one who has "lived through many of these hurricanes growing up ... didn't I ever show you the picture of me my parents took when I was 10, hanging onto a tree horizontally?"
7. Take someone with you to the market so you have help in righting the shopping cart that tipped over because you put too many cases of water in it.
8. Identify items on the real preparedness list BEFOREHAND - i.e. - WTH is this, and where in God's Name do I find it?
9. THIS is not a drill. I repeat: this is NOT a DRILL. Make sure your Emergency broadcasting radio is in good order. Wait, what? Emergency broadcasting radio? We have one? OK, how about actually finding the emergency broadcasting radio before the storm, not after.
10. OMG, did you even remember a lighter?

Interesting observations about how Real Island Yankees Do Hurricanes:
1.They buy gap insurance and don't worry about the cars.
2. They park their beloved boats in the middle of the high school parking lot, where there are no trees to do damage, since they bought all that gap insurance for their cars.
3. They do wait to the last minute to get batteries, tape and beer.
4. They don't wait to get their trucks gassed up, so they don't have to wait in line with the rest of us greenhorns.
5.They know how to hole up for several days on end without getting cabin fever. This has to do with the men having selective hearing, the women cooking a lot during the storm and both having the ability to play cribbage for hours without end.
6. They know that Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, gets in the way of a Red Sox Game.
7. They actually reschedule Wind Festivals for calmer weekends.
8. They find it more important to buy ice for the bait freezer than for the house freezer.
9. In order of importance: Buy booze, buy backup cigarettes, complain, watch the Weather Channel.
10. That all of the above is based on the assumption that predictions are, in fact, wrong, the weathermen are fools, and that the hurricane will, in all likelihood, peter out before it makes it this far north.


Hopefully, I will take the time to prepare a comprehensive kit suited to our family needs, well in advance of the next storm.
Hopefully, it will never have to be used.
And hopefully, I will find it in time for the next storm.

That said, I will add that when we moved to the island, hubby did find the anti-terrorist emergency supply kit I put together after 9/11.
Shoved way back into the farthest corner of the basement.
And let's just say, it wasn't pretty.



Have a calm and clear one. :)