Preparing for Storms, Part 1
I’m writing this on Tuesday morning, September 22, before the storm hits.
To be clear, the actual weather here in Central Washington is supposed to be pretty perfect.
I mean all the things.
Tuesday night: Husband arrives from Alaska. Furniture moving and construction-site Tetris begins.
Wednesday: The container holding everything we packed up the first week of August finally arrives at our remote build, which I guess is actually no longer remote. First stop: the shop and attached apartment.
Current conditions there: workers’ equipment, uninstalled doors, uninstalled flooring, appliances, boxes, and many other things occupying the exact spaces where our belongings need to go. Plus, did I mention workers anticipate working throughout the week and weekend?
Thursday-ish: Container moves on to the house. Before that happens, bedroom and living room furniture currently at the house needs to also move to the apartment so there is room for the things coming out of the container.
We have movers. We have a plan. What we do not really know where we will put everything.
Friday: Continued unpacking, moving, rearranging, and trying not to think about how long I may be living out of boxes.
Saturday: Two car recalls, overdue regular service, and lots of road miles now being put on my car mean apparently this is the ideal week for fitting in a car appointment. I’ll be sitting at the dealership finishing the presentation I need for Monday. And getting the guest bedroom put together...
Sunday: ...because my aging father arrives for his annual trip to Central Washington.
Monday: An incredibly important presentation with our senior leadership team as we continue plan residency and its space, while also making sure I’ve accounted for every line item a new residency needs as budget deadlines loom.
Forecast: multiple systems converging with a high probability of chaos.
Sometimes you can see the storm coming and you prepare as much as you can.
I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida, so I know something about preparing for hurricanes.
When one was coming, you had time to prepare. You bought supplies and batteries. You dug out candles and matches. You made sure you had gas for the generator and nonperishable food because you anticipated losing electricity.
You cleaned the bathtubs and filled them with water, because the water out of the faucet becomes non-potable.
You picked up anything in the yard that could become a flying object and covered the windows with plywood.
And you made sure you put the batteries in the transistor radio so you could stay connected to whatever information was still available.
You did everything you could reasonably do.
And then the storm came.
At that point, there was no more preparing. You hunkered down and waited.
Afterward, you came out and assessed the damage.
That is very much how this week feels for me.
For the last month and a half, I have been trying to be incredibly proactive in prepping. But obstacle after obstacle has kept some of my best-laid plans from actually happening.
So here we are. The shop, the house, and my presentation aren’t ready.
And the container is arriving tomorrow anyway.
When people you loved were going through a hurricane, you also knew there would probably be a period when you wouldn’t hear from them. Cell service and the landlines would be down. You knew they were in there somewhere, riding it out, and you waited for communication to know they were okay.
So, being a touch overly dramatic, consider this me signing off before the storm. 😂
Hopefully, I’ll resurface next week with Part 2: The Damage Report.
Reflection
Sometimes we don’t get to prepare as thoroughly as we would like. At some point, we have to trust that we’ve done what we can and that we’ll be able to handle whatever comes next.
- What storms are you preparing for right now?
- What preparation is still within your control?
- Where might you need to accept that you’ve done enough and trust yourself to handle what comes next?
Responses