This week's preparation project. . .

Was supposed to be acquiring canning supplies and learning to shut off the electricity, gas, and water to the house. However, another blackout on Wednesday lit some fire underneath my behind to get our emergency lighting situation together. On Tuesday, I was able to get some candles from a fellow freecycler. We have two small, surprisingly bright LED flashlights that are battery powered. One of those sat upright can illuminate the whole bathroom. I purchased a set of three lanterns that are battery operated but have a hand-crank for back up power and one lantern that is mainly hand-crank powered but has a electrical port to charge it. Since the hubby is a buyer's club member and had a coupon, I also went ahead and bought a hand-crank weather radio. Glad to cross all that off my list. I hope these three blackouts we've had this winter are not foreshadowing of many more blackouts this summer. We have a lot of blackouts already during the summer but we've never had so many during the winter. We'll see. I keep thinking about how easily my grandmother would get out the kerosene lamps when we were visiting in Nigeria. She'd light them and life would continue on as usual. Nobody batted an eye when the electricity went out. I'm trying to make sure blackouts don't interfere with our living and we might even do voluntary blackouts from time to time just to get used to it. I heard a while back that for some children with autism, turning out all the electrical lights at night really helps them. I always found that interesting. Anyway, I think I might complete my original preparedness project via Amazon.com what with their free shipping and one-stop shopping and all. I do not really want to be hopping from shop to shop trying to find eveything with two kids in tow.

Photo Credit: "This Red Kerosene Lamp" by finishing-school on Flickr.com