It's the staff of life!
If there is one thing you can rely on in the Southern US, it's that, at the first warning that a hurricane is headed in our direction, everyone will immediately go to grocery stores and buy bread .
That means buying LOTS of bread! Enough bread to last for two weeks. Or even longer. And cakes, too. Maybe even doughnuts.
We have been through this before and we expect that there will be wind and water damage; that there will be trees down, flooded areas, and a loss of electricity that may last a day or a week or even more. That means cooking will be difficult, so we expect to be eating sandwiches. Having enough bread on hand is a major comfort item.
The official warning that Hurricane Florence should arrive Friday afternoon came late Tuesday afternoon. We had plenty of time and we made our trip after 12:30 PM on Wednesday to top off the car with petrol and then stopped at a new Kroger's grocery store. The parking lot was filled with shoppers. Surprise, surprise!
There was NO BREAD left! The shelves were fully stocked at six AM and now it's one PM. Not a loaf of bread! Everything had been sold! There is no bread shortage; just a surge in buying. Southerners know better that wait when it comes to having bread on hand. Many seem to think that having enough bread on hand provides a talisman to ward off the effects of strong wind and hard rain. In many ways, it does.
Fortunately, we already have enough on hand and got the other things we went for.
As I was leaving the parking lot, two bread delivery trucks were driving up to the back delivery dock.
It was a beautiful day. No wind, low humidity, a beautiful sky, and no threat of a monster off the coast over the Atlantic, sucking up water and heat energy from the Gulf Stream.
Image by @willymac
Two days later, on Friday, sunrise on the eastern horizon was more foreboding. The dark mass of clouds to the southeast told of the hurricane's presence off the shore of North Carolina; still over the ocean but hesitant to come ashore as if still deciding where to drop the tens of thousands of tons of water it had collected.
The water will cause the most damage as it floods farms, pastures and forests, fills rivers and streams, inundates towns, rises into homes and businesses and ultimately does billions and billions of dollars of damage.
The winds will push trees out of their path. People will die.
Unknown thousands of small animals will die. For them, there is no refuge from the flooded earth.
Now, all we can do is to wait.
At least we have our talisman for protection.
Bread image from Pixabay
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Talisman for protection 😂 I love this.
St. Bread, patron saint of weather events.
Growing up in the mid-Atlantic I saw this same mad rush play out every time more than an inch of snow was in the forecast. My buddy calls the people who pack the stores “snow crazies” and I like the term so I stole it.
What’s truly remarkable is that if there were a disaster with less warning, these same people would be... where? Starving? I’m sure you went to buy bread because you prefer eating sandwiches to rice and beans the other items you have socked away. What are these other people going to eat who have nothing else?
The South is saturated with Snow Crazies! The mere mention of a possibility of snow in seven days causes drivers to immediately become erratic and overly cautious, wrecks increase, and traffic laws become only hints instead of laws. Wife person once worked with an older woman who heard a forecast for snow possibility the following afternoon and she immediately called a garage to come install chains on her wheels that day. Just in case, you understand.
I do wonder how people can totally ignore having any food on hand when they have a week's notice that it will be needed. Again, wife person talked to our new neighbors three days ago about topping off preps and reminded them about having water to flush toilets (which they have not thought of). She asked about food and his reply was, "If we need anything, I'm sure someone will bring it to us.) Ummm... no.
We keep our preps up for worst case and keep adding. If bread were a "keepable" I'd have a garage filled with it. I actually get along well with wheat crackers and peanut butter. To me, those are real treats, even in good times. Both keep well. Add a can of soup, camping stove (a rocket stove for a longer haul), and we're fine. Preps are second nature for some and non-existent for others.
Oh man, I can tell with the highest degree of certainty that when it comes to not having a clue on driving in snow and ice we here in Texas are head and shoulders above the rest of the world in being major screw ups.
We have trouble just on wet roads let alone throwing in temperatures below freezing. Long periods when we have no rain allows oil buildup on the roads and when the rain hits and floats the oil up to the surface, look out.
I was talking to a friend a few years ago about the way we Southerners react to snow warnings. He's a real comic and a lover of Southern lore and he swears that he saw an older car with a lot of miles on it and parked in a parking lot spontaneously flip over on its back the moment the snow warning came over the radio!
Somehow, the story just seems right.
I hate that feeling when the wheels lose touch with the pavement and you start hydroplaning . Yep, oil will do it!
If we go a week or ten days without rain, the next time it does rain is like a major payday for wrecker drivers and body shops.
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howdy sir willymac! wow I would have thought that you had gotten there in plenty of time to get the bread! haha. that's a little nuts. but that's human behavior! hope the results of the storm aren't serious for you all.
We were fully prepped up already. They had peaches on sale and we went for those and got enough for a winter's supply of peach cobbler. I peeled them and @swan-nguyen made a cobbler and prepared the rest for freezing.
howdy sir willymac! peach cobbler...oh my... that's wonderful. I wouldn't mind getting trapped in the house as long as I had a bunch of that stuff.
I didn't realize that the Mrs. was on steemit or I had forgotten, that's cool when a couple can share about it and there is so much to share!
We have enough cobbler makin's to make it through the winter. [sighs with satisfaction]
Yep, the S.O. dabbles but struggles with written English. She speaks it perfectly but enjoys writing about as much as getting a root canal. She stays in the kitchen more than on the computer because she loves to cook. Believe me, I don't mind at all!
hahaha! oh willymac it sounds like a heavenly deal you got there! wonderful, I'm happy for you. I suppose it's raining there now isn't it?
Yep, it drizzled all day but that gave me time to write and catch up on crypto and financial news.
The weather was strangely calm to have the hurricane/tropical storm so close. Only a few breezy periods and a couple of dead pines fallen over. No real problems here. I really feel for the folks in Eastern NC. They have a real mess with all the water.
Yep, no complaints at all about the food OR the chef!
hahaha! no sir willymac I can see why! well sir...that is a shame about all the flooding that's going on over there, dang.
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NOTIFYHey @willymac, I hope you are well. My thoughts go to all of you and all the little animals who are vulnerable before this beast of nature.
I wonder what I would eat since I can't eat gluten. Gluten-free beard I guess :)
Stay safe!
Thank you for reading and for thinking of the animals, Mirella. They are the least thought of victims of floods and fires, I suppose because there is little that can be done for them...and that most people don't care anyway.
We have been fortunate and have had little wind and only a regular rain. Not enough rain to top off our pond!
Not being able to eat gluten is a problem. It will help to always have a supply on hand of the things you can eat just in case there is a natural or manmade disaster of some kind so you can make it through at least a couple of weeks. That's a chore even under normal conditions but having adequate food is a real problem when there is no electricity.
At least the animals are ahead of us if the lights go out.
Animals are definitely in touch with the environment and their instincts unlike humans.
Thanks for the food supply advice. I might start stocking up on dried fruits and canned foods....just in case. People used to do that in the old days in preparation for winter. We are very spoiled now, but these disasters make us all feel vulnerable again.
Yes, and we humans are the only animals who have lost their ability to live within Nature's framework.
Keeping an emergency supply of food on hand is more important now than ever and it would be an excellent idea to have enough to meet your needs for two weeks. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but if there is an emergency, having a reserve can save your life.
Read my post on a financial collapse for what very likely can happen. Having your own emergency food backup is very important, I think.
I'll check your post, thanks. Yes, scary times ahead especially for those living in the cities.
You may also like the story about Coco, the little dog we just adopted.
Stay in touch, Mirella. Every link with people who care about animal welfare makes us stronger.
Lucky Coco :) I look forward to reading her story.
I will stay in touch. Thank you, Willy, for sharing you heart with people and animals.
I thought you might like my wednesday walk post today, so I came back to let you know I posted it. I love this place but it has its quirks :)
"Quirks" is such a sweet way to say it! My first impression was that the town seems to be an urban planner's nightmare!
I'm very impressed by your weight loss. What dedication and change of lifestyle that must have taken!
I have been a vegetarian for a long time and still weigh the same as I did when a Junior in high school...and probably am more active since I was a bit on the nerdy side back then and preferred the company of my radios and electronic projects to outdoor activities.