Greetings!

I am new to this forum, though not new to the idea of emergency preparation. I grew up in poverty, on a farm. A lot of the skills that I read about people needing to learn, often seem to be what a lot of country folk take for granted. Now, mind you, I left the farm in typical teen / young adult fashion - the city was where it was at, and I wanted to be a city girl. So, I forgot all of my "country ways" and learned to live in a fast paced, gotta have it now, plastic, disposable society. In that kind of life, you sorta forget all you ever knew about the basics, like stockpiling food and other non perishables, (what, I can't just run to the corner fast food place?), how to have safe drinking water (what, I can't just go buy my fiji bottled water any time I want?). etc, etc.

I now live in Florida, and having lived through three (three?! wow, yes - three!) hurricanes, I've realized the importance of being prepared for disaster. Watching the destruction unfold in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was heartbreaking.

This has brought me back to studying all that's going on in the world, and how to prepare myself for disaster situations. I live in a small suburban community and I am learning all I can about gardening (I have my own backyard garden, yay), I'm building up a stockpile of canned foods, as well as water and other supplies for the next hurricane or other natural (or otherwise) disaster.

I'm eager to participate in this forum and learn from everyone. I have tons of questions as some of my interests seem to overlap between "sustainable living", "self sufficient living" and "emergency preparation". Many of the issues overlap. How to live like you are not dependent upon the structures of the outside world, especially in situations where the conveniences of the outside world may not be available. It's simply amazing to me that I grew up in an environment that was naturally self sufficient, and I did not understand or appreciate it at the time. I'm looking forward to relearning these skills and am eager to chat with others on this forum about this important topic.

Anyways, thats probably enough food for thought at the moment.

Thanks for letting me ramble!

Peace,
~Lissa

Hi Lissa and welcome to the forum!

It sounds like you've got a lot of information that you can share with us, even if it's a bit rusty. We've got a good group going here and we welcome you input. Of course, we'd like to help you out as well, so if there's anything you need just give a yell.

_________________
If it's in your pack, but you don't know how to use it...it's useless. So, always test your skills as a form of preparation...Don't wait until your life depends on it. That's a lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.

Hi Lissa! Nice to meet you. Enjoy the forum.