Music, intelligence and lifestyle. . ."Oh the irony of it all."

Let's talk about music, a past passion of mine that I have neglected as of late I must admit. (Mostly due to motherhood. . .) I grew up heavily involved in music though. I was born into a musical family that sang and played instruments for a living. We made 6 tapes/CD's and a video while traveling 11 months of the year from the time I was 6, until I went away to college. I then married a music major who has since been involved with being a music pastor and leading numerous choirs over the years, including one now at our "church". So the subject of music has always been close to my heart.

I hope you are all aware of how music effects you, but I suspect most have no idea. This is a fascinating subject that my husband and I have discussed and researched a lot over the years. According to our research, music comes from the root word "muse", as it's intention is to make you think. So in a perfect world, the psychological effects of music would simply be to make you think.

We have probably all heard of the studies on music with babies, leading to a boom in classical music baby CD's like "Baby Einstein" not long ago. Though this music is calming, and helps you concentrate, some have speculated that it isn't the music that necessarily makes a person smarter, but their genetics. Yet there is a definite connection to smart people and this music.

I could propose that it's not as much the music as the intelligence of the person that draws a person to the type of music they like. This in turn calms and helps their brain. "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" is what it inevitably comes down to. (Though that is a really silly, creation-belief-based-question, you get the idea right?)

It has been said that "Our thoughts are the seed from which the plant of our lives will grow. As that plant (our individual life path) grows, it is affected by many things, one of the largest influencers is music. The influence comes on both the conscious level by the words, and subconscious level. . ." (Which I believe to be the music or rhythm/beat/notes.)

On the flip side of these positive brain building effects, our thoughts and emotions as well as actions can be influenced negatively but unhealthy music. We see that heavy rock/metal, rap and country music (and probably others) because of it's beat alone it has an energizing, angering and depressing tendency on the actions, emotions and thoughts. This is seen in the group behavior of those listening to it in concerts, as well as parties, stores and at home. Studies have shown that depending on the music played in stores and restaurants, the people rush and wolf their food or act leisurely and calm. Consequently we can tell that this fast and rocky music is in turn stressful to the mind. Many people finding it even causes an immediate headache. How can you tell that music like this is stressful to the body?

The effect of stress is that:

•  your heart beats faster, 
• your blood pressure increases 
• you breathe faster, pumping maximum oxygen and energy-rich blood to your muscles. (And away from your skin and extremities
• Your liver releases more sugar into your blood ready for action.

Chronic stress additionally leads to:

•  sexual dysfunction, 
• increases your chances of getting sick,
•  often manifests as skin ailments. 

All this is due to the "fight and flight" response, which we can be stuck in. Our adrenal glands release adrenaline (also known as epinephrine) and other hormones. One of which is the "stress hormone called cortisol. Raised levels of cortisol for prolonged periods can hurt your immune system and decrease the number of brain cells as well! In the short-term cortisol presumably helps the brain to cope with the life-threatening situation. However, if neurons become over-loaded with calcium they fire too frequently and die – they are literally excited to death. When the brain is thus stressed it does nothing good for brain development like calming or classical MUSE-ic, in fact, it actually kills brain cells! Without cortisol though you would die – but with too much, too often it makes your brain cells die and thus making it more vulnerable to damage such as strokes, ageing and additional poor response to stressful events.

(In fact, when you are stressed out, and riled up with the wrong type of music, it causes a chain reaction with many of your hormones! Stress depletes progesterone as well, and that causes an estrogen dominance, which causes poor responses to stress -think moody PMS- weight gain, inflammation, adrenal fatigue. . .
 In evolutionary terms though, this is a remarkable system that has helped our species survive under attack, but exposing ourselves to this stress long term could literally be the death of us.)

Personally, I would classify a loud, repetitious, driving beat in music just obnoxious noise. Ironically, a noicy environment has the exact same effect on people. "Noise at home or school can affect children's ability to learn. Compared to kids from quieter neighborhoods, children living near airports or busy highways tend to have lower reading scores and develop language skills more slowly. Bad moods, lack of concentration, fatigue, and poor work performance can result from continual exposure to unpleasant noise"

"Included in noise-related problems are high blood pressure, peptic ulcers, cardiovascular deaths, strokes, suicides, degradation of the immune system, and impairment of learning. Noise is also associated with an increase in aggression and a decrease in cooperation."

Knowing the effects of music, good or bad, now let's analyze this topic a little deeper. . .Who chose our music preference as a child? Wasn't it preprogrammed in us from childhood, consequently effecting our thoughts, emotions, actions and health?

At some point we do seem to veer away from our parent's choices and choose our own music though, in a similar way that we choose our friends. We likely don't suspect the importance of our choices and how either will mold us, but they do. The real question is, do we originally get drawn to the music because of how we feel, or does the music of our culture, work environment and peers change us to feel like or mirror the music as we leave home? My experience is leading me to the latter.

I have seen in my own life how a life of mostly country gospel/bluegrass music made me look, act and sing like a cowgirl. Then I went to a conservative college, where it wasn't even allowed! They not only confiscated music that wasn't approved, but they had a strict and lady-like dress code and a certain way they taught the girls to act like a "lady". So I learned to dress, walk, and attempted to talk and sing "classically". . .all of which ironically went with the music they predominantly played. This point in my life led me to being a thinker, more organized, caring to impress people with the way I dressed and acted. . .but I also got proud of how I acted, and my crowd and also became analytical and skeptical about everything.

Next, probably because of too much thinking, we left even the somewhat mainstream belief of this fundamental and classical lifestyle, for an even more extreme and narrow life and music. Plain in every way, our music was without style, frills, mics or instruments. Even the ones I grew up playing I was told to get rid of as I would supposedly have pride in my abilities with them. . .  (So I gave them to my parents, who have since thankfully returned them.) The clothes were very plain and old fashioned, and my hair was put up in a head covering. No make up was allowed either. How I decorated my house, the car we had, and even my husband's job was constantly checked on. This no frills life was so typical of the music we listened to there.

Leaving that life behind, both my husband and I naturally took our own paths both in music and somewhat style. (Influenced by our upbringings, choices and somewhat just what we were always drawn to.) Not both reaching the same beliefs until much later, where we have mostly settled upon soft pop, and classical music to influence us.

Here I want to mention though that as my wise friend said, "No one is a victim of life. We all make choices and are responsible for the influence we follow."

  I have no shame in admitting that I've always liked a mix of Oldies, bluegrass, pop, (love songs) and classical music, whereas my husband, because of his past work environments, is a lot more into Pop, but with some classical still, while dabbling in doing some professional opera and renaissance as well. Our styles of clothes are, depending on the day, also a mix of those looks. So, in my experience, even when we aren't controlled by peer pressure from a religion or others, our music and lifestyles are closely tied. This connection is harder to peg though the more diverse the choices in music, nonetheless, I find it easy to tell what kind of music many people like, just by the way they dress and walk or talk.

 Once I thought that my theory on music might be wrong, and that there was no connection to the style and the music. . .but then I found out that secretly the person had been listening to that music I pegged them for listen to, but knew they couldn't listen to. Alone in his truck as a trucker he had been slowly changing and letting it mold him for years. He was the only one to stand out in the cult I was in, as everyone else was listening to nothing but church music. (He was quickly excommunicated after that. . .) So as a friend said, "Be careful of whose influence you admire, [especially music] you may end up thinking like them and acting and looking like them." In this case, it was probably a good thing, in some others, not so.

So, interesting as this is, I have a point in bringing up the connection to music with intelligence (brain health) and lifestyle: because it also opens up our minds to different beliefs. We can see this in the typical music of the churches of today. Funny thing, in the time since we have moved to Virginia we basically went to a few of our old classic Baptist churches (to mostly humor the family that moved with us) before going our own way and finding a church that would accept our differing beliefs of the time, the Unitarian Universaist church. We have stayed there through many belief changes for both of us over 3 years or so. In this time our extended family, who started out believing and living the same as us, went back to their music that led them to the cult to begin with. Probably consequently, they have hardly stayed 6 months in a typical christian church before getting disgusted. Why did they leave? Music. The music was "offensive" and "worldly". Now they are in a small church that is not "perfect" doctrinally, and very conservative and traditional, but has "good" music that is not "dishonoring to God".

 So, if you are drawn to classical/traditional/high church or calm meditative music, your options in this city (with a church on every corner) are down to the tiny extremely conservative fundamental type churches,  (that I've never heard of a member not excusing away, ashamed or embarrassed of their churches judgmental bigoted or wrong beliefs, consequently they are now almost extinct) or (surprise!) the most liberal church in town, full of Atheists and Agnostics. Mine.

What do these both groups have in common that would drive them to the same music you ask? One very cookie cutter in their style and music, (if not beliefs and lifestyle), and the other one quite varied in their style, thoughts and even beliefs, while their lifestyle and music choices are generally, at least partially, very conservative. Could it be the music preferences of both show them to be the thinkers, and they all consequently have a problem with mainstream idiocy, including the immorality, irresponsibility, sheep-like behavior and music?

One group believing what they are doing to be just God's way, while the other believes the lifestyle and music choices are just self serving and common sense. Could it be that the thinkers in life go one of 2 ways:

1. they dig in their heels, and practice their religion consistently and historically, away from the mainstream inconsistencies and hypocrisies, by putting on blinders to new research. 
2. Or they question religion with an humble and open mind, until they find answers and consequently most become very liberal and open minded Christians or leave religion all together! 

This ties into my other posts: Anti-mainstream = "s-marter then the av-er-age bear" and also this one: Religion is for sheep, cults are for rebels.

It's a pretty good theory anyhow.
Source
Source

Too much exercise will make you fat!

I had a friend who believed that her obesity struggles would resolve with a gym membership and an hour of strenuous exercise every day. . .but with no diet changes. (And there was rarely a fresh fruit or veggie in it!)  I have found this to be a commonly held belief and something very driven and determined people lean towards. . . seeming to be gluttons for punishment. The truth is, "to lose weight just through exercising is very difficult. You would have to exercise at high intensity for three to four hours or more a week. . .The idea that exercise, and running in particular, will lead to weight loss, is a common misconception."

At first trying this method my friend claimed that she did lose some weight, (probably water weight) but she quickly found it again, and more then ever. Presuming as most would, that it couldn't have been the one thing she believed she was doing "right", she got discouraged and quit.

Many people unlike her though, don't even begin to lose weight with lots of exercise! Either way it is a discouragement to your weight loss plans to try so hard and end up the same weight or gaining weight in the end. Lack of weight loss, or even weight gain isn't always a instant reaction to over exercising though, sometimes it takes years! Classically people who were very athletic people in their youth end up overweight. I come from a very athletic family, and this is the pattern I have seen.

If this is the case, why does this happen you could ask? One of the obvious justifications for the weight gain from the very start is the fact that exercise turns your fat into muscle, which is heavier. This can be encouraging, but the moment you stop, that muscle is converted into fat, and probably more then you started with!

Another reason you will likely gain weight, or at least cancel out the weight loss, is that exercise causes you to be hungry. A study, from the University of Massachusetts, found that not only does exercise increase hunger by increasing levels of insulin and leptin, (both appetite-stimulating hormones) but it also found that women are affected more than men.

Most people, feeling this hormonal effect of hunger, and the need for energy giving glucose in particular, feeling justified to have -and crave- a little treat, they usually go for a sweet drink or carbs (both of which digest as a sugar) after a vigorous workout. (What they are probably feeling is actually thirst, and drinking water after a workout is often what is really needed.) 

Sadly, while it can take an hour to burn off 400 or 500 calories, and takes just two minutes to eat that many calories. You might be surprised to see that 500 calories looks like. (Check out a sampling here.) You need a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose a single pound, and as exercise will just increase the desire and need for food, it is a vicious cycle.

Yet another reason why pushing yourself to exercise hard is a bad idea is that it increases our levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which leads to a decreasing amount of progesterone, causing an estrogen dominance, leading to tummy fat. Also the body often goes into a state of "self preservation", which is characterized by slowed metabolism, fat preservation, decreased thyroid function, and for woman, anovulatory menstrual cycles and infertility, as well as other symptoms . . . Mind you, these symptoms are largely related to dieting or nutrient deprivation, (such as low fat diets) that often naively accompany any intense effort to lose weight with exercise.

Thankfully, you do not have to torture yourself with strenuous exercise or skip food and go hungry to lose that 500 calories worth of food a day. Nor do you even have to keep track of calories at all. Those who fixate on the numbers tend to miss out on some of the best super foods: like the good fats. Nuts, avocados, coconut oil, eggs and butter have all been demonized for their caloric content, but are actually great for you, (depending partially on the source) and will even help you lose weight!

This is because most people are fat because they are malnourished, not because they are eating too many calories. (Just the wrong ones.) And as exercise only increases the need for nutrients, you will need to have an increase in good food, or you will only get more deficient! (And consequently get fatter!) So while quality food is the main player in any weight loss plan, it is important not to downplay the benefits of exercise. The part it plays in weight loss has long been overstated, but it has a crucial role in our physical health, in fighting disease, bone loss and in our mental health. You just need to eat more good food and lots of water while doing it, or you might as well skip it. . .as you won't be doing your body any favors.
Source

Presuming you plan to keep to whole foods and water to hunger though, it is a great thing to be active. If you don't get enough activity in your day with spurts of running after kids, gardening, or some other heart pounding work, this is a fine routine I stole:

1. Warm up for three minutes
2. Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. You should feel like you couldn't possibly go on another few seconds
3. Recover for 90 seconds
4. Repeat the high intensity exercise and recovery 7 more times

As you can see, the entire workout is only 20 minutes. 

 Dr Mercola recommends and calls this a Peak fitness routine. I for one will try to do this, as well as roller skating, gardening and normal life with 5 young kids, and most importantly, eating healthy food. Doing this I have no doubt that I will lose my bit of baby weight in a timely fashion as usual, and I know you can do it too.

I had a dream. . .

 No I'm not speaking of the speech from Martin Luther King Jr. (That plagiarizing, womanizing, often drunk hero of civil rights. . .or didn't you know? History has a way of glamorizing people after they die.) Literally though, I had a dream! In a similar way that his was though, it was a hopeful one. I dreamed that everyone learned and understood how life started on this planet because of how science has basically replicated the process.

 Scientists have now done experiments to replicate the beginnings of life with the basic elements being heated and cooled and dried up and wet, in the order we see to have happened in the far past, seen by the geological evidence all around us. In other words, in the environment of that time, from the basic elements found on the earth (that were formed in the older stars and planets of the universe that died and exploded, sending their dust or gases here) life just happened naturally!

 Amazingly, Scientists have made RNA, the precursor to DNA by leaving nature alone in the environment of the time. DNA we know evolves on it's own because of selective breeding for survival, to form all the life we have today. Meaning that all living organisms we now have or ever did have, did and can come about naturally, without a design or creator. When you think about it, that should not come as a surprise, as there are many design flaws in much of nature. . .the human body being no exception!

The natural outcome of this knowledge should now be the death of religion and the belief in a creator of all things. . .because if any life can start that way, it stands to reason that it all would have, no matter where it started. Now isn't that a more logical start of life then a word from God? (Which is the equivalent of someone speaking "abracadabra" and the object magically appears.)

 Furthermore, even aside from the belief in God's role of creator of the universe and life on the earth, his existence as a supposedly eternal being is also called into question. It stands to reason that if something alive (RNA) could start from dead elements, then we could also say that any "God" would only logically have been formed by using this same process (though likely on another planet) as well.

Of course, if God did get born or created from this same slow process, on another planet, then he would also have to die like all the rest of life. Also, if he had created "children" here with his genes, (like was described in all the ancient texts) the DNA of these "creations" would have to be much older then the rest of life on this planet, with a unique bloodtype to the types found on this young planet. . .which not surprisingly is exactly what scientists have recently found! The DNA of man is older then this planet, and the RH- in human blood is found in no other living plant or animal that we know of yet! Together this information confirms that by definition some humans for sure have alien blood. (Something ironically even Jesus claimed, when he said repeatedly that he was not of this world.)

 So even if a so called "God" (or what others like me would call an Ancient alien/astronaut) was able to harness the science of DNA from the RNA to start this earth's plant and animal life from scratch, (in the same process as scientists are doing today instead of genetically modifying and splicing DNA they already had from their own planet, as most believe the aliens did,) we still cannot say that the origin of life is mysterious and magical anymore. Religion is officially dead and the Evolution of life is now proven to be a fact! (Sorry to burst your bubble. . .really.)

source
Source

Source

Source

Source

Skills everyone should learn

To not just survive in life, but thrive, there are things you need to learn. Some of which (like proper hygiene, reading, manners and people skills) growing up will usually or ideally teach you, others you may have to go out of your way to learn, depending on the crowds you are in, and the time or money spent on you as a child. 

These are some of the most important "other" things I have researched and found personally that you will never regret learning:

Learning how to operate a Computer – Fundamental computer knowledge is essential these days. I'm ashamed to admit that I come out kind of weak in this area, but as I write this to share what I've read, not nessecarrily learned yet myself, this is first on the list.

• How To Help Someone Use a Computer
• Webwise – The BBC’s Guide to Using a Computer
• Mac Basics
• Windows Basics

Type – Learning to type could save you days worth of time over the course of your lifetime.

• Online Typing Lessons for Everyone
• Free Typing Lessons for the Standard QWERTY Keyboard
• Free Touch Typing Program

How to do Basic Cooking – If you can’t cook, you probably aren’t going to make it in survival situations, much less real life situations! This basic skill will save you a lot of money and allow much better health. . .allowing your family to thrive where others don't. So in a sense, this is a basic skill that the intelligent will learn for life!

• Cooking Basics and Tips
• Cooking and Baking How To Information
• Basics of Cooking Series

Selecting Good Produce – Rotten fruits and vegetables can be an evil tease and an awful surprise.

• Produce Primer: Selecting the Best
• Tips on Choosing Produce and Keeping it Fresh
• Buying Fresh Vegetables

Basic gardening- This skill is both practical, healthy, and most find it enjoyable to boot.

• How to create a permaculture garden.
• Lasagna gardening

How to manage Time – Not doing so is called wasting time, which is okay sometimes, but not all the time.

• How To Manage Time and Maximize Effectiveness
• Managing Your Time
• 10 tips for time management in a multitasking world
• Time Management Tips and Exercises

How to speed Read – Sometimes you just need the basic gist, and you needed it 5 minutes ago.

• Learn Speed Reading
• How To Speed Read the Net
• Speed Reading Techniques

How to drive a car- including how to parallel park – Parallel parking is a requirement on most standard driver’s license driving tests, yet so many people have no clue how to do it. (Including a professional driver I know!) Driving is not something you learn quickly, but with a little practice and a person to help you out, you can save yourself much time and money, not to mention gain a lot of independence!

• How To Parallel Park (video)
• How To Parallel Park

How to speak at Least Two Common Languages – Only about 25% of the world’s population speaks English.  It would be nice if you could communicate with at least some of the remaining 75%. Sadly, Americans are the least bi-lingual group of people in the world, whereas in many other places it is the norm to speak a minimum of 2 or 3 languages from birth!

• Free Online Language Courses
• Learn a Foreign Language Online Free
• Language Learning with Rosetta Stone

Basic Geography – If you don’t know where anything is outside of your own little bubble, most people will assume (and they are probably correct) that you don’t know too much at all.

• Maps and Geography of the World
• USA Geography Map Games
• Test Your Geography Knowledge

How to smile for the Camera – People that absolutely refuse to smile for the camera are annoying at best, and lose opportunities and make bad impressions at worst!

• How To Smile for the Camera
• How To Be Photogenic
• How To Smile with Your Eyes

How to navigate with a Map and Compass – What happens when the GPS craps out and you’re in the middle of nowhere?

• How To Use a Compass Alone
• Using a Compass Alongside a Map
• Navigate with a Map and Compass

Basic Sewing by hand and how to use a sewing machine  – It sure comes in handy for curtains, mending or gifts. This is best learned in a class setting, and it's most fun too!

• How To Sew on a Button

How to remove a Stain – Once again, it’s far cheaper than buying a new one.

• Effective Ways to Remove Laundry Stains
• DIY Cleaning and Stain Removal
• Stain Removal Articles

How to keep a Clean House – A clean house is the foundation for a clean, (healthy) organized, lifestyle. . . and while no one expects a lived in house with kids to always be perfect, there should be a place for everything. That way no time is lost in finding it or putting it away.

• The Keep-It-Clean Plan
• Keeping a Stress-Free, Clean House
• How To Keep Your House Clean in 20 Minutes a Day

Detect a Lie – People will lie to you, intentionally or otherwise.  It’s a sad fact of life.

• How To Detect Lies

Basic mechanics- It really stinks to be stuck on a deserted road, or even in a lonely parking lot on a rainy day and be at the mercy of your cell phone with sketchy service, or on a holiday.

• How To Jump Start Your Car (video)
• DIY: Jump Start a Car
• How To Change a Tire (video)
• Saturday Mechanic: Changing a Tire

Basic handyman skills- It really gets expensive to hire someone everytime you need a picture hung or a room painted, so learn to swing a hammer and use a paintbrush at very least.

• How to learn to be a handyman 
• How to do many handy projects
• Course to teach highschool kids to be handy

How to cut hair- Men's hair styles at least are very simple and easy to do with a small investment in tools. . .woman's styles, not so much. Thankfully woman don't usually need their hair cut as often, so you aren't wasting as much if you get only the woman's hair professionally cut. Besides, woman usually like the experience more then men, who find it just a chore most of the time.

• How to cut men's hair with clippers.

First aid/CPR- Needless to say, this could say your life, or those you love.

• Free CPR course
• Take a red cross class near you for hands on and certification.

How to play an instrument and sing- This is not only good for your entertainment and others, it is good for brain development and coordination. It will open up a whole new social world to you, and keep you from feeling like an idiot in the many social times that either require musical skills, or could be benefited by them.


There are numerous ways to cheaply and quickly become at least not an embarrassment in these areas. One of which is NOT, IMO, to learn to sing, join a choir and learn at the expense of others ears. (Better to use your own ears to learn the basics. Get some Hearfones to help.) Regardless of where you are coming from, if you can devote 20 minutes or more a day to practicing singing with some direction, you can expect measurable improvement within four weeks. Instruments are very individual, but many are easily taught to yourself, with a book or online, in a few months.

• Tips on singing better
• How to sing

And that's all folks! If I've forgotten anything important though, leave it in the comment section below.

#5 of the emergency series: A maintenance plan.

While not the most important of things, it is nonetheless very important to have a maintenance plan for your emergency preparedness, or it may become obsolete and pointless to have gone to the trouble of preparing it all in the first place. For instance, the clothes you packed may no longer fit, or be seasonal. The food may be old or moldy, and the equipment uncharged. So here is the best plan I have. This was compiled from many different maintenance plans I have researched.

Things to do:
Annually or less - Go through the supplies as a family so everyone is familiar with the contents of the bins and how the stuff works. Keeping up to date your fitness and health. E.g if I have a dental problem, I look to it as soon as possible. Increase your knowledge of the area and the region, and in survival. Take or keep up with first aid certification. Change the batteries on your smoke alarms at least once a year. Conduct fire and emergency evacuation drills. Get training from the fire department on how to use your fire extinguisher (A-B-C type), and show family members where extinguishers are kept. Different extinguishers operate in different ways. Unless responsible family members know how to use your particular model, they may not be able to use it effectively. There is no time to read directions during an emergency. Only adults should handle and use extinguishers.
Teach all responsible family members how and when to turn off the water, gas, and electricity at the main switches or valves. Keep necessary tools near gas and water shut-off valves. Turn off utilities only if you suspect a leak or damaged lines, or if you are instructed to do so by authorities. If you turn the gas off, you will need a professional to turn it back on. Paint shut-off valves with white or fluorescent paint to increase visibility. Attach a shut-off valve wrench or other special tool in a conspicuous place close to the gas and water shut-off valves.

Quarterly - Change the water in rain barrels every 3 to 4 months to keep it fresh. Food should be checked for expiration dates, and flashlights and radio checked to ensure they are in working order.
Clothes, diapers and shoes for the children should be checked for size and replaced and all should be seasonal.

Monthly - Add to your supplies monthly through a program called “The Q” at www.atozdisasterprep.com . "The Q" allows us to enter our family size and our goals for food storage to develop a plan tailored for us. Update the inventory and it's location in your supplies as it arrives. Develop and maintain an excel spread sheet that lists all of your supplies or use an Apple/Android application called Prep & pantry

 http://prepandpantry.com/ to inventory your food and supplies. (This application allows you to scan an item, record its calories per serving, number of servings, expiration date, and location. It also allows for setting total inventory quantity goals and generates a shopping list of items needed to meet those goals.) Test your smoke alarms monthly.

With this done you can rest easy that you have calmly prepared, and are ready for nearly everything you can be ready for.

#4 of the emergency series: Good things to do now to be better prepared for coming disasters or emergencies later.

Good things to do now to be better prepared for coming disasters or emergencies:

• Purchase a low cost Kindle Device and load books on various subjects related to disaster planning on it, then place it in the previously mentioned Disaster Box #1 or 2.

• Buy needed things on previous post.
• Learn How to Build a Fire
• Learn How To Use a Compass
• Make a visual or written record of your possessions to help you claim losses in the event of damage. Include photographs of cars, boats and recreational vehicles. Get professional appraisals of jewelry, collectibles, artwork or other items that may be difficult to evaluate.
• Take a wild herb class or research the wild edibles in the area.
• Practice gardening.
• Know how to make a solar water still. (Above right illustration.)
• Know how to Perform Basic First Aid – You don’t have to be a doctor, or a genius, to properly dress a wound or save someone's life.

• First Aid Guide
• Understanding First Aid
• Common First Aid Topics
• Learn CPR
• How To Perform Adult CPR (video)
• How to Perform the Heimlich Maneuver (video)


• Know how to swim and how To Teach a Child to Swim (71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Learning to swim might be a good idea.)

• Keep extra gas around for the car or generator in an emergency.
• Keep identification tags on pet's collars and a current picture. Have a plan and stocked up food and water for them too.
• Post emergency telephone numbers (fire, police, ambulance, etc.) by your phone. You may not have time in an emergency to look up critical numbers.
• Have a maintenance plan as discussed in my next post: #5 of the emergency series: A maintenance plan.
• Research, research, research. . .

Good resources:

Books:

Finding your way without Map or Compass  Harold Gatty   

Internet sources:
THRIVE Foods from www.atozdisasterprep.com.

Developing your survival plan
 Ray Mears extreme survival

Dave Canterbury youtube channel 

Online Survival Kit!

Facebook Page "Self Reliance Network" - a constantly updating forum including gardening, self-defense, medicine, etc with numerous reference documents and links to free kindle books.

# 3 of the emergency series: Emergency bins for a healthy and safe family

Emergency bin #1 should contain stuff for being in the home when an emergency happens:

• Candles and a clicker lighter or matches. . .unless your house has gas. (Then use flashlights.)
• Flashlights and extra batteries.
• Duct tape and plastic to seal windows and doors.
• If you don't have rain barrels, use an aqua pod, which stores a 14 day supply of water for a family of four in a bathtub.
• Food grade hydrogen peroxide to safely purify water.
• Green reusable personal products like: cloth diapers, cloth wipes, "mama cloth pads", breast pads or "family cloth". Or packages of paper products like: diapers, wipes, pads and TP. . .not very long lasting or sustainable in any major emergency, but handy.
• BBQ and/or a camping stove. Free DIY one here.
• Fire extinguisher or fire blanket.
• If you have money to burn, get an all-in-one solar generator like this one, to power the necessities in your house. Or get a gas one to run outside, and keep extra gas around.
• Solar, crank or battery powered radio

Emergency bin # 2 for if you need to take to the road and can't go to family or a hotel. Also just a great camping kit. Often called a "bug out bag." (Could even be kept in the trunk.)

• Garbage and ziplock bags 
• A package of unlubricated condoms not only can come in handy for their traditional use, but they can carry water and hold important things you need to be waterproof. 
• Everlasting matches or solar powered electric lighter
• Lara bars 
• Fully cooked dehydrated meals. 
• Cooking utensils, peeler and can opener 
• Plates, bowls, utensils and cups 
• Duct tape 
• Aluminum foil 
• Salt
• One door rocket stove and/or Biolite campstove to cook and recharge cell.
• Solar set to recharge rechargable batteries 
• Lifestraws or a family filter like a Brita and extra filter cartridges. 
• An optional bottle of trace mineral concentrate to add to filtered water. 
• Foodgrade hydrogen peroxide for water purifying. 
• Luggable Loo Seat, Cover and 5 gal. bucket for bathroom
• Umbrella(s)
• sunscreen
• Axe
• Swiss army knife 
• Collapsible saw or "pocket saw."
• Machete and sharpener 
• Work gloves 
• Insect repellent 
• Tarp(s) 
• Ropes of varying sizes and lengths.
• Clothes pins 
• Small kit of fishing stuff and an optional collapsible rod 
• Laundry soap, shampoo and dishsoap. . .unless you prefer cleaning with ashes as some survivalists recommend with little water. 
• Solar shower (preferably one for each person.) 
• Hand siphoning gadget for gas or water. 
• LED flashlights 
• Rechargeable batteries 
• Walkie talkies 
• Solar, crank or battery powered radio 
• Copies of birth certificates, titles, insurances, deeds, cash, passports, SS cards, etc. in a waterproof container. 
• Sharpie to mark bags, leave messages to family members on odd surfaces, etc.

Other things to have handy, but not in trunk.

• Optional blow up boat and ores
• Tent
• First aid kit and if you feel they are needed prescription medications. 
• Wallet with all the cash you can scrape up in the house.
• Toiletry bag, including dentures, extra eyeglasses, and hearing aid batteries as well as diapers if needed. 
• A change of clothes, including hiking sox and underwear and a coat and good walking shoes or work boots. 
• A sleeping bag or blanket and pillow for each household member. 
• Car keys and keys to the place you may be going (friend’s or relative’s home). 
• Cast iron pots, skillets and griddles as well as a steamer basket.

In an emergency, grab the last minute items, possibly turn off utilities, lock your door and go!

(If it's not an emergency though, check out my next post called #4 of the emergency series: Good things to do now to be better prepared for coming disasters or emergencies later.)

#2 of the emergency series: The emergency plan for the healthy prepping family.

The easiest step in preparedness is to agree on a plan . Particularly where to meet if your immediate family gets separated (or even want to stay close to extended family living nearby) in the case of an evacuation with no lines of communication working.

This is an Evacuation/ Meeting plan I have heard is a good idea. In this order:
A) Meet at or right outside your house in a safe, agreed on location.
B) If someone is in town and if those at home felt the house and near by area was not safe they should leave a scarf on the tree outside the house, signaling to the missing family members that it is unsafe and the secondary meeting spot will be used.
C) Have a secondary meeting spot a ways away from the first. 
D) Should you be unable to contact your family, have an “Out-of-Town” contact that every family member knows to call. Ask an out-of-town friend or relative to be your contact. After a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance. Be aware that cell phones are often overloaded during and immediately after an emergency, so it is important to know “land line” phone numbers as well. Note: If telephones are not working, try e-mail. Sometimes e-mail gets through when calls cannot. Another good way to do this is utilizing the Red Cross's safe and well website. After you have registered with them, concerned family and friends can search the list of those who have registered themselves as “safe and well” by clicking on the “Search Registrants” button. The results of a successful search will display a loved one’s first name, last name and a brief message.

The next easiest step is your lifestyle choices that will prepare you for practically everything, with no huge effort or investments of money for emergencies that may never happen.

 A natural and healthy way of eating and living will simplify things immensely! If you use and have these things built, planted or roaming in your yard, you will be ready for nearly anything.

• Seeds to plant, sprout, or just soak and eat. They all have a very long shelf life if stored well. (Also look for heritage, non GMO seeds for the garden which set seeds that you can replant. Several prepper sites have cheap heritage seed "vaults" designed for long term planting.)
• Make yogurt, kefir or buttermilk on a regular basis. Adding milk kefir grains to dried coconut milk makes it as good as raw milk!
• Use pickling as a way of preserving fresh produce without refrigeration. Keep the brine to seed new batches. Vinegar, whey or kombucha mothers can be used to pickle.
• Keep a sourdough starter alive to keep your grains digesting well, and to leaven bread easily and sustain-ably.
• Buy a solar cooker or keep handy instructions for making  a simple one and supplies to do it.
• Have chickens. Chickens will lay for two years after which time the chicken can be cooked. But you also need to learn how to butcher and pluck them.
  (Also, eggs that are unwashed of their coating can go without refrigeration so long as they are intact.)
• Make a DIY bucket fly larvae harvester for protein for your chickens.
• Buy foraging and gardening books in paper or e-books to be used with a Kindle.
• Ideally, have an orchard and perennial herb and vegetable garden. The latter set up using permaculture, which takes care of itself basically.
• If you can, do a regular annual garden as well.
• Build or buy a top bar hive or two, and get bees to produce your own honey and help pollinate your garden.
• Let worms eat your garbage. Make a 3 tiered worm bin (3 bin bottoms with holes drilled in the top two, a spigot put on the bottom and a lid on the top) and get worms to put in it to eat your kitchen scraps. You can use the excess worms for both chicken protein and to help the composting process for the garden. This also makes worm compost tea for the hydroponics bin below.
• Make a bin hydroponics system with water and floating styrofoam with holes to fit holey pots in. You can feed the plants in this system with worm compost tea/water and a bit of hydrogen peroxide. This works great in a greenhouse set up!
• In a pinch, you can learn to supplement canned or dried foods with foraged local weeds and homegrown grown herbs or perennial vegetables. (Common weeds can be eaten and cooked like spinach- learn those around you. A weed salad can make freeze-dried meals much more desirable. Dandelion greens, sedum, portulaca, the entire kudzu plant, violet leaves (not too many), violet flowers, dandelion leaves and flowers, yam leaves, stinging nettles (cooked), Japanese knotweed shoots, gallinsoga leaves, cattail roots and shoots or pollen, grape leaves, shiso and many other weeds are edible. Many others like raspberry leaf, sassafras roots or alfalfa also make nutritious teas.
• Own a good manual grain grinder and flaker attachment too, like: Family Grain Mill
• Own a Vitamix, with it you can make your own nut butters, almond milk, make and cook soups, grind grains, etc.
• Learn to cook with whole foods.
• Buy a fire proof safe for your important records.
• Learn to fish and hunt.
• Learn natural remedies for your ills, to be independent of pharmaceuticals.
• Learn first aid and CPR as well as warning signs in an emergency childbirth.
• Keep a first aid kit all in one place.
• Keep your toiletries all in one place. Have a little bag for say, make up, a nail kit, a brush and a few hair things, pads, deodorant, toothbrush and paste. This is great for any trips too.

Stock up on and use regularly and keep extra in a pantry or garage:

• Beans lentils and split peas. Stored in glass gallon jars.
• Quality oils. A liquid like olive and grapeseed oil have a long shelf life. As well as a solid like coconut or palm oil are great. Which double as butter in a pinch.
• Sweeteners like raw honey, dehydrated honey crystals, Succanat, molasses and/or maple syrup. . .although Maple syrup only stores for 1 year.
• Dehydrated veggies, in well sealed individual packs or gallon glass jars (Before storing, the easiest way to kill or prevent any bugs is by adding 1/4 cups of tasteless diotomaceous earth to 1 gallons jars, and roll to distribute evenly.) 
• Dehydrated mushrooms- Ditto above-
• Dehydrated fruit chunks or fruit leather. -Ditto above-
• Glass jars of preferably organic spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, pickles, olives, jams, nut butters, salad dressings, sauces or anything else you have found that you like in glass jars, or that you have canned yourself. (Plastic containers are not as good health wise, or for keeping the food as fresh, or safe from mice, and with canned food we have aluminum and BPA's to worry about.)
• Dehydrated and canned meats and fish.
• Dried coconut milk as a healthy alternative to powdered cows milk.
• Cocoa powder- free trade if you can afford it and or carob powder if you want to avoid the caffeine.
• Whole spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla beans. . . they store well.
• Healthy vegetable or chicken bouillon cubes like the Celifiber brand ones.
• Organic squeezable fruit pouches are very tasty and nice to have on hand, but don't last long at my house, nor are they suppose to store for more than a year.
• Buckets of grains (Lots of them, like: oat groats, wheat, corn, barley, quinoa, rye, spelt, rice-get no American rice, as there is an Arsenic scare right now in anything but organic, which is best anyhow-) in buckets with screw on lids. (Before storing, best to kill any bugs by adding 1 1/4 cups of diotomaceous earth to 5 gallons of grain, and roll to distribute evenly. You can also freeze them.) Also, make sure you are regularly using a sourdough starter, for yeast, to make them actually digestible, a lot more nutritious, while not spiking your blood sugar. See more about why that is needed here.
• White flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, and/ or well sealed coconut flour.
• Quinoa noodles, (gluten free and full of protein) or if you don't care about a little unhealthy splurge here and there, regular noodles.
• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• For radiation keep fermented miso and dry seaweed snacks around as well as anti-radioactive iodine.

There is no need to consider any of this emergency stuff, as it is just practical. . .for actual emergencies, you will need to set aside some more specialty stuff. I will discuss that next in # 3 of the emergency series: Emergency bins for a healthy and safe family.

# 1 of the emergency series: Emergency medical kit for a healthy family

Emergencies and disasters strike quickly and often without warning and can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services (water, gas, electricity or telephones) were cut off? Do you know what to do in an emergency? Do you know what emergencies are most likely to strike in your area? Where would you go if your family gets separated?

As of late I have taken a college course and spent much time in researching many ways of being prepared for numerous natural (and otherwise) disasters, as they seem to be happening at an increased rate.
 I believe that if a disaster strikes, you need to know how to take care of yourself and your family. This self-reliance is important because even in the best case scenario, local officials and relief workers won’t be able to reach everyone right away. People can cope with disaster by preparing in advance and by working together as a team. Working with neighbors can save lives and property. Ideally you should know your neighbors’ skills (i.e., medical, technical) and consider how you can help neighbors too. . .especially those with special needs, such as the disabled or elderly person.

One way to be a useful team player is to prepare a natural first aid kit oriented to a group, but you can also just customize it to your family.

One like this:  

• Activated charcoal capsules for poison inwardly or outwardly.
• Coconut water for electrolyte balancing after prolonged diarrhea. (Some people get this with stress, and many get it from bad water.)
• Probiotics not requiring refrigeration. (Also help the gut health.)
• Essential oils in small amounts.  Use topically. 

1. Tea tree –antiseptic, works on MRSA, antifungal.
2. Lavender-universal EO.  Antiseptic, anti burn, antimicrobial, insomnia.
3. Peppermint- for indigestion, nausea, cooling, reduces fever.
4. Catnip/citronella/geranium as mosquito repellent.
5. Rosemary for general immune function. 
• Packets of sugar.  Sugar was a battlefield antiseptic, providing a matrix for wound healing, ulcerations (even diabetic) and festering sores.  Also useful for hypoglycemia or diabetic coma.
• Saline (contact lens) solution for irrigating wounds and a few salt packets.
• Arnica for bruising and swelling.
•  Rescue Remedy for dealing with traumas better.
•  Goldenseal/Plantain/Calendula salve, nature's Triple antibiotic cream.
• Aspirin or Naproxin or willow/yanhusuo tincture for pain.
• Small packet of clay powder.  Can use with water to draw out insect bites, stings or for other skin conditions.
•  Neem oil, for tetnus, topical parasites, birth control/abortion.
• Black walnut extract, for internal parasites, as a gargle to build up teeth, or to treat wounds.
• Yarrow extract for topically for wounds, cuts and abrasions as it slows bleeding. Also intensifies other herbs. 
• Clove oil for numbing of pain in numerous locations. . .
• Bandaids of various sizes, butterfly bandage,  compress packets, sterile dressing, Ace bandage, medical tape and blister protection.
• Tools: scissors, tweezers, some duct tape, safety pins, pocket CPR kit, Non-latex gloves.
• A kit to put it all in.

This may seem like a lot of stuff to keep around for just emergencies, but believe me, this stuff should be in your medicine cabinet anyhow! So presuming you have this in a bin already, it would not be hard to get this out in an emergency. Besides for a medical emergency though, there are other things to be ready for. . .like weather related stuff. Many people go all out here, but even the laziest "prepper"  can and should have a plan. . .so check out my next in the series called #2 of the emergency series: The emergency plan for the healthy prepping family.