Chapter 15---Prepping Isn't All About The Zombies

Chapter 15--Prepping Isn't All About The Zombies

Good Morning Everybody, How are ya?  I've been wanting to write about this topic for a long time, but it finally came together in my head after another catastrophic wildfire in NW and Western Oklahoma.  After the fires last March 6th and now these, tell me why people shouldn't be preppers? 

Sometimes preppers get a bad name.  People see shows where preppers are hoarding large caches of weapons or they are building a bunker to withstand a nuclear blast and to me if you think that's what a prepper is, you are missing about 95% of us.  That's just a true disservice to prepping.  Prepping can be a multitude of things, short term or long term practices, to help you get through an event.  I'm going to cover some of them .

When I made a job change last year it was a stressful time to say the least.  You know bills keep coming whether you have a job or not.  But one thing that gave me piece of mind was the fact that we had a pantry that was loaded to the gills.  Things that we had bought when grocery stores were having sales,  jars and jars and jars of produce that we had canned and preserved to eat later and 3 freezers full of pork, beef and chicken and other food we could eat for a long time.  While that pantry is not actually cash, it is a cash reserve and the fact that your belly is going to be full for a long time to come is very reassuring. So if you shop and buy things on sale, or you buy in bulk or you raise your own garden  and can and preserve for days to come, then, let me tell you a little secret.   Are you ready?  Are you listening?  Ok, here it comes,  YOU ARE A PREPPER!  Maybe not a zombie apocalypse or a nuclear war type of prepper, but you are one , non the less.  

Last year, March 6th, wildfires swept through this area that were on a scale from horrific  to hell like. We nearly lost everything and some people lost all they had.  Hundreds of thousands of acres burnt in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas last year.  I consider ourselves among  the lucky ones, because we only lost a few cattle and about 7 miles of fence.  So many lost so much more.  This past week western Oklahoma and areas 70-150 miles southwest and southeast of us have been on fire.  Fueled by high winds, a dry, dry fuel mass and cedar trees, hundreds of thousands of acres have been on fire again.  Lives have been lost, homes destroyed and livestock killed, among other losses. If it wasn't for firefighters, the forest service and divine intervention, things wouldn't be looking as good as they do.  Firefighters and trucks from literally everywhere have come to try and put out the fires.  They have done great work but just like last year, when the fires were raging, there just wasn't enough of them to go around.  That's the reason you need to take some responsibility as well and that's where prepping comes into play.  We are trying to figure out a way to have a farm fire truck.  We feel it would be a great tool in fighting fires that seem to just keep coming year after year.  But you don't have to own a fire truck to make a huge difference in such an event.  Things as simple as keeping  tall grass away from your house would be a start.  If you live in an area where cedar trees are prevalent, cut them down. Keep your yard green, or in our case with no rain in over 6 months, keep it dirt!!!  In case of a fire have a plan to evacuate.  No where you can go in each direction. Have a bag with clothes, important papers, cash and other things you might need ready to go, at least during fire season. I bet a lot of you didn't think that would be a part of prepping but it dang sure is.  There are a lot of different definitions of prepping.  The one I like is , "Getting ready for events that might affect you."  Boiled down that's pretty easy to understand.

So if you have a job change or lose, or you have an illness in a family that keeps somebody from working and you have a plan if that occurs, you are a prepper.  If you have a bug out bag, you've cut down tall grass next to your house and eliminated cedar trees in case there is a fire, you are a prepper.  If you are a farmer and have had moisture and can put up a barn full of hay, then you are a prepper.  You are prepping to feed your livestock during winter or other times when there isn't anything for them to eat.  I think with some of the new terms and what people perceive them to mean, prepping has gotten a bad reputation.  I don't know any farmer or rancher that isn't a prepper in some way or some form.  Our grandparents and great grandparents and beyond were all preppers but today that word has a bad connotation to it and it shouldn't!! Just remember, if it could affect the temperature of the water in you little swimming pool and you plan for that, You Are A Prepper!!  Wear that badge with pride and take care of your family and your assets.  When a disaster happens you will look smart and if an event never does then you were ready just in case.  

Around the farm.................We are still trying to get things planted.  this weather has been the unbelievable pits.  We are expecting to get a good soaking rain this weekend. We are praying to God that the heavens unload a great rain all over this area.  

If you enjoy this blog please share it with all your friends.  That's the only way to continue to grow.  You can also follow me on Twitter @OKREDNECKFARMER.  I'm on Facebook as well.  My page is OKredneckfarmer or you can email me at ramblingsofaredneckfarmer@gmail.com.  I would love to hear from you.  

Have a good day and we'll see ya next time!!