Since starting on this blog, I've been wondering: "Am I ready for a disaster?" Like many of you, I'm busy! I'm juggling consulting work, my art career , and family. It takes time to prepare, and my head just hasn't been there.  Until I started work with Wells Fargo's historians, and learned more about the quake and what the 200,000 refugees of the city had to do to survive. This is serious stuff. 

"Honey, where's our disaster kit?" (It's always the other person in the house that's supposed to prepare, not you, right?;-) Answer: "There're a couple of bags of stuff on the garage floor, but the main kit is in the garden shed." Here's what I found: 5 cans of tuna fish, 4 boxes of chili, a can opener (good!), and 2 empty tequila bottles (huh?). "Honey, why are there two empty tequila bottles in our supermarket-paper-bag disaster kits?" Answer (with annoyance): "To store water!" Interesting. Of course, from reading the historic accounts, I know now that the water mains into San Francisco burst during the quake—which is why they couldn't fight the fires... with water.  Sadly, in a disaster, those bottles will probably remain empty. But I remain hopeful.  The garden shed, safe harbor for our "main disaster kit", must be bursting with supplies!

Does your garage or garden shed look like this? Let's see, old luggage; a bicycle with two flat tires (we won't be pedaling to the 7-Eleven for supplies ;-); golf clubs (who golfed while Rome was burning?); and other... you know... stuff you don't need, but are afraid to throw out.

See that box down in the lower right, under the leaf blower? It's huge, we'll feed the neighborhood for days! I was ready to crack it open and feel vindicated.

That was not to be. It was a big box, yes, but 90% empty! The kit did have some sensible things: an unopened first aid kit; a can of votives marked "emergency candles"; another can opener; two matchbooks; a flashlight; and two "emergency blankets," which were just some kind of weird aluminum foil paper. Somehow this kit doesn't seem...complete.

In my next post, I'll compare what I have in my "Disaster Shack" kit with what The American Red Cross  recommends. There may be just a few small gaps ;-)