Lessons from Irene

Superman can fly in 60 mph winds

So we survived the Hurricane. For all the hubbub, the Irene was more like a gusty rainy day. My mom's friend Judy visited, so we enjoyed the company of friends, which made up for the lack of power. We stayed inside all day, and I read a lot (The Road to Serfdom ... a must read for all libertarians). If I may have yet another existential view on the world type moment, I realized how dependent we are on energy. Will I change my day-to-day now? ... probably not. But I did learn that bad things can happen without power. The take home message -- have a backup plan. We've invested in a generator; consequently, we didn't lose all of our food. Contingency planning in the broad sense is important. By the time something bad hits -- be it a hurricane, lack of clean water, or any natural disaster -- it's too late to prepare. Only after we lost power did my dad and I spend hours scouring Rhode Island for 15 gallons of fuel. Who knows, maybe a day will come when we all wish that we had stored canned beans and bottled water.