What about those crazy preppers?

Anybody been to the grocery store in the past two weeks? Well, I last went shopping on my own, PS (prior to surgery) a couple of months ago. This week, with my wheels back although temporarily, I have ventured back out on my solo flight to the store.

A few weeks back, I tagged along with my hubby to refill those empty spots in our pantry. He looked dubiously at me as I tossed canned goods and staples into the buggy. When we arrived at the checkout, I told him, “I’ve got this,” and whipped out my checkbook. Whew! Is it just me, or did groceries triple since I last shopped in August? The time a year ago when I stocked up for winter, our total was approximately half of what I spent on this trip.

As I strolled down the aisles, I ran into a lady very carefully stacking flats of food items in her cart. Usually this means one of two things. Bulk buying is usually done by our local restaurants and outreach centers, or by someone else like me that believes in being prepared. We smiled at each other and then began chatting about the importance of having adequate food storage. I can assure you that neither of us would qualify as a “crazy” prepper, but we both felt it was important to be well stocked, just in case.

My grandparents lived through the stock market crash in the late 1920s, and my parents lived through the hard times during the Great Depression. They all had something set aside, “just in case.” Grandma kept spare cash hidden close to her heart in her clothing. One grandfather had a floorboard in a spare closet where he tucked most of his savings, learning not to trust banks.

One visit, he shared that with me. I remember standing in awe of the number of 20- and 100-dollar bills. He told me the rest of his cash was stored in coffee cans buried all over his yard in his tiny lot in a small Southern California town. I had always hoped to return with a shovel, but the best intentions of mice and men, right?

So back to the grocery store and “stocking up” … we don’t see much of the reality shows putting down the crazy preppers anymore. From Katrina, Rita, and the various other hurricanes of the 2020s, in East Texas we understand fully the reasoning behind being prepared. The onslaught of Covid and bare supermarket shelves also made an impact on our thinking. If we needed tissue, why not get one extra, “just in case.” Nonperishable items flew off the shelves, many of which are still not readily available. My son in Phoenix wheeled his basket beside an individual that had no less than 10 jumbo packages of tissue, totally taking the very last package of Soft and Fluffy off the shelves.

Normally that would have not been a problem, but when you “gotta go…” So, he smiled at the gentleman, reached over and snatched one of those jumbo packs out of the buggy, and told him to have a nice day. Eventually the storekeepers limited their customer’s hoarding adventures. And each time I pass the dairy section and discover they have only four extra-large bottles of Pumpkin Spice Creamer, I have to resist the temptation to confiscate them all.

Kidding aside, we live in difficult days, soon to be even more difficult, especially for those used to having everything at their fingertips, (this writer included). There is a fine line between being prepared and being a crazy prepper, and “crazy” is in the eyes of the beholder. We find ourselves making nearly all meals from scratch at home. We find a use for leftovers, freezing them if we must, only to drop in a lovely pot of vegetable soup the following week. We keep our perishables down to a minimum to reduce spoilage.

We grew a garden that would not quit giving, filled our freezers with home grown veggies, and our shelves full of canned goods begging to be eaten.

After living through a couple of major hurricanes and a pandemic, I keep extra items on my shelves “just in case,” or for the wayward child who becomes unemployed and needing a hot meal. Plus, venison and local fish fill the freezer.

Prepping is not new. Our grandparents several generations before us knew the importance of having adequate provisions, not having the convenience of modern appliances to store food, or “instapots” to cook jiffy meals. They canned, and dehydrated foods, they cured meats in the smoke house, and they stored fresh vegetables in the root cellar for harsh winters and hard times. They stored hay up high in their barns for their livestock. They were smart, not crazy because they knew by the actions of squirrels and birds when a cold winter was coming.

So, exchanging pleasantries with another who understood the meaning of “hard times coming” was one of the highlights of my morning. We didn’t fall into the category of obsessive prepping. As we parted, she reminded me of the biggest security in our lives. It wasn’t in the buggy full of food. It wasn’t in a closet full of designer shoes and clothing, or the variety of electronic helpers we have in our home. We didn’t feel like crazy preppers; like the squirrels and the birds, we were getting ready, “just in case.”

She smiled and said one word. “Prayer,” she said quietly. “That’s the power, and that’s what we all need to be doing.” She was absolutely right! We went our separate ways, new acquaintances, with a common thread.

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You may reach Terri at P O Box 28, Center Texas 75935 or at btlacher@sbcglobal.net