just the other moment...: A Storm Called Atlas

Around my neck of the woods we had a little storm called Atlas. It reminded people that for as safe and secure we feel in our civilized world, we are not above the laws of nature. And sometimes nature doesn't play nice.
    Perhaps we need to borrow some pages from a Boy Scout manual. Be prepared. It's not crazy to prep. I know society likes to paint a picture of crazy of people that prepare for natural disasters, zombie invasions or the grid being taken down but it's NOT CRAZY people.
   How long can you survive without water? Shelter? Your Apple product? (Surprisingly, you can survive without your Apple product. Really. It might hurt a little but it can be done.)
    I realized how woefully unprepared I was for any real disaster. I thought I was ready. But I'm not.
     Such as, I had a flashlight.
     But I didn't have the right batteries for it.
     I have a water filter. But what happens if the water doesn't come out of the faucet?
     I have bags of rice.
     But no way to cook it if my electricity goes out.
     I didn't even have the girls' winter boots yet. They had to borrow mine to go outside.
     If the zombies come. It's clear, my brains would feed the undead. Not a happy thought.

How many broken trees do you see?

    I've been through blizzards before. Wind and snow and cold. But this storm was incredible. It howled and attacked. It was without mercy. It started with hours upon hours of cold rain. And then the storm arrived like a Viking raiding party of old. It ravished and killed and was driven by a force of cruelty.
   People weren't expecting this storm to be so nasty. Blizzards we can handle, this storm was something else.
   Hero Hottie was stranded at work with coworkers and customers. I had friends stranded without heat and water and lights...for days.
Some people were stranded in their vehicles over night until rescue crews could reach them.
Our state's cattle and horses died by the ten of thousands. TEN OF THOUSANDS. Just imagine that. Where do you put the bodies afterwards?
   We, as a state, were also surprised when the media didn't cover our loss. When they didn't think it was worthy news. I think we were saddened to find that many on the east and west coast were heartless. That they blamed us for the deaths. Do they really think there are enough barns to shelter nearly a hundred thousand beasts? Really?
   Do they think that a man wouldn't try to save his animals? His livelihood?
   I hear prices of beef have already started to go way up. Haven't people realized yet, that nothing happens in one part of the world that doesn't affect all of us?
   Simon and Garfunkel had it wrong. We are not an island.

      When I let Gibson out that night, or more like I hooked him up to his leash and literally tossed him out, I could hear the moan and groaning of branches as they cracked, broke and fell to the ground. For hours this went on. It was like the entire world around me was falling apart.

The next day...broken tree limbs and piles of snow.

     Even weeks later, huge mountains of tree branches are piled on street corners and in backyards. Tree cutting services are working their butts off to trim the broken limbs that dangle dangerously above us.
     The yard waste department had to have special collection sites to handle the massive amount of debris. I think nearly every single tree or bush or structure had something broken. Imagine that. Damage to every single wonderful tree.

Broken

My old shed, although rusty was still hardy, suffered enough damage to it that I will be removing it this spring. Here's a picture of the top where just the sheer weight of the snow and the harshness of the storm caused it to buckle.

I will huff and puff and blow your shed down.

But I have to believe humanity is stronger than storms. For the next few days after the storm, as I was shoving snow with a very helpful neighbor friend of mine, people, who we didn't know, would wave to us. As if they were saying, 'hey, we all lived through this together.'
   Even now, fundraisers are under way to help the ranchers and horse camps that lost their herds, that lost their horses. And the community is giving.

   So two things we need to take from this 'going down in the history books' storm. One, prepare. You're not crazy. You're not a Doomsday Prepper by understanding you are a human being and have certain needs. Such as water, shelter, food and medicine.
   Our civilized society can still be affected by natural disasters and malfunction. I know I'm making a list of things I can't live without. Water, food, heat, shelter, medicine. Oh, and plenty of chewies for Gibson. Gotta keep the dog busy too.
   Perhaps extra diapers for the Baby Blueberry. I'm sure she doesn't want me collecting cold and wet moss from the trees and stuffing it in a makeshift diaper.

And the second thing. I wish people would hold on to that feeling of togetherness they feel after a disaster. It seems too quick we go back to our 'me worlds', forgetting that we should love thy neighbor.

   Gibson and Abu enjoyed the snow. Gibson though it was hilarious to steal her hat and run. She had a terrible time catching him as the snow was three feet deep and impossible to run in but he just seem to sail over the top of it like a gazelle. The dog may hate water but he loves snow.