Deep thoughts by Dave Johnson
This started as a thought from Wise Old Owl's post on foraging and I was trying to not completely hijack the tread. In doing so I fell off in the ditch.:
Living in southern Oklahoma severe weather is just part of our lives. Growing up I spent many nights down in the cellar and many times we would have power outages. It never seemed to be a big deal to be out of power or 4 or 5 hours. It only became a problem if it went more than 12 hours or so as I recall. I grew up in a small rural community (less than 2500 souls) and even when the whole town was without power for 4 or 5 hours it was not a "big deal" just part of life.
Ice storms cause much bigger disruptions and lots more damage. Twice, while I have lived here, we have had bad ice storms that put us without power for long periods of time. The first bad ice storm that I remember was in late December of 1969. The day after Christmas it started raining and then when the temperature dropped we ended up with 2 to 4 inches of ice over two thirds of the state. The temperature stayed right at 27 or 28 degrees for about 6 or 7 hours and then it fell below 20 and stayed there for two more days. Wide spread damage to the power lines in a very large area. Two thirds of Oklahoma was impacted adversely. Hospitals, nursing homes and other critical services were really impacted. My community was without electricity for 11 days. After the first two days we had to boil our water because the city water treatment system was damaged by the sub freezing weather. We, my family, had a fireplace but we also used natural gas for heat. Because of the widespread natural of the incident we were restricted on gas usage so we depended on our fire place for the majority of cooking and heating. Out of area/state relief efforts started immediately but it still was several weeks before all the tree damage and frozen water pipes were dealt with. To me at the time it was a big adventure. I was in the Scouts and our Scoutmaster had us out cleaning up tree damage very quickly. everyone who wanted to got their Tot'n chip then! We cleared broken limbs and downed trees for over a month on weekends and evenings. I did not really recognize the real impact of the incident to the elderly and the invalid community. Then in 1983 it happened again. Much different impact to me this time. My work place suffered severe consequences and caused big disruptions in my efforts to respond to the emergency in the community and surrounding area. As a volunteer fireman so I saw a much different aspect of this incident. I helped care for two elderly people who fell on the ice and hurt themselves badly. I also responded to several house fires that resulted from people going to extremes to try and keep warm without their "normal" resources. For about two solid weeks of between 12 to 16 hour shifts at the refinery and rescue/recovery work at the FD it was a very tough time for many people.
My parents encouraged me to spend time in the outdoors. I was sleeping out under the stars (like real cowboys) when I was 8 or 9. Of course I was less than 200 yards from my bedroom but it was still on the creek bank, out in the pasture! Pretty much from the time that I was 10 or so I could grab a can of beans (Van Camp's Pork and Beans of course) and head out to the woods/creek whenever my chores/work/homework was done. I hunted squirrels, rabbits, quail and dove when they were in season. I fished in the ponds and learned to clean and cook over a fire, sometimes with my dad but a lot with friends my own age. Learned how to reload 30/30 ammo at the kitchen table from my dad with a Lee handloader set, how to cast bullets and trot line weights. Most all my "camping" gear was Army Surplus, either hand-me-downs from my dad or other grown ups or stuff I "gleamed" from other sources. I still have my old G.I. canteen, cup and cover. My canteen was made in 1917 and is still a great canteen! My bedroll was a quilt (made out of old blue jean's) and an army blanket rolled up in a shelter half. Over time my kit has evolved. I joined the Boy Scouts, started backpacking, earned my 50 miler patch twice once hiking and once canoeing, Joined the Navy. While my ship, the AS-19, The USS Proteus was home-ported out of Guam I brought my wife and two children over to Guam. In May of 1976 Typhoon Pamela passed directly over the island. My family lived "on the beach" IE: in the civilian community rather than on base in Navy housing. Deb and the kids (3 and 9 months) were with out power for 22 days, without running fresh water for 17 days. I was out at sea for most of that. She tells the most amazing stories about "surviving" that little deal. We got out of the Navy came back to Oklahoma raised the kids, lived, had ups and downs (in both categories I became a grandfather when I was 34 and a great grandfather when I was 40) We went on camping trips, I became the Scoutmaster of my old troop and got to go out in the woods every month for 15 years. Somewhere along the way I also got interested in "Living history/reenacting/buckskinning/primitive living" and started putting together a whole different kit. Braintanning, hand sewing, learning how to harvest sinew, cast round balls, make a real beaver set, jerking meat and a zillion other little things to learn and do. Do you have any idea how hard it is to adjust to going into the woods, the deep woods, for two weeks with a friggin' flintlock instead on my 1911? I could do without the down sleeping bags, closed cell pads, propane stoves, matches, flashlights, polyprops, and all that, but go to the Rocky Mountains without a repeater? Dang that was a tough transition for me. I do not even go to the grocery store without that 1911.
You learn why folks kept working on better metals and better firearms systems. I went to EMT School (remember the whole Boy Scout deal? I have always taken the "be prepared" deal pretty seriously) and worked as a volunteer EMT in my hometown for 15 years NREMT IP. My kit is still evolving. I am still learning.
I found this forum looking for tips on how to "be prepared" better for an "ut oh" while I am in the woods. I really enjoy the wide variety and range of topics here. Thank you all so much for taking the time to share, discuss, tease and be so open and welcoming to new people. I appreciate, respect and admire most all of y'all very much.
I say all that to say this:
I love to camp. I love to be in the outdoors. My family loves to camp. All my kids and grand kids (and great grand kids now) are campers.
So this bulletin board appeals to me on many levels. I learn every time I sign on. So, Thank you. Thank all of y'all for being here
Dave
