We're Prepared — Are You?

This is our family, except for my big brother and mom that is. She's baking a cake, at least that's what she said. But really she's just shy. No problem, we get to eat the cake. We're not really sure what the future will bring, but dad wanted to make sure we wouldn't be caught unprepared, like Aunt Monica was during an ice storm a few years back. She was without power for three weeks and had to leave home because it was too cold. Even our Governer Dean of the whole state was without electricity for two weeks. Biggest problem for me is that the batteries will run out for my flashlight and I can't read much. I like to read a lot, unless it's homework. I had to do this story again because my dad said I made some mistakes and he didn't want people to think we didn't know what we were talking about. (Especially Aunt Monica)

But I do kind of like it though when the power goes off. We get to sleep in our sleeping bags by the fireplace. My brothers and I think thats kind of neat. Of course when it used to go off we didn't have any water so dad had to bring it from somewhere. That isn't so nice. Nobody likes a huge pile of dirty dishes. After Aunt Monica had all that trouble, my dad, he put in a special water pump for us and some other things. And now we have these shiny brass lanterns all over the house and we are just waiting for the power to go out. Sometimes we switch off the lights just so we can use the lanterns. Thats really fun. Just make sure you light the lanterns first, cause last time I almost stepped on my cat. She didn't like that much. And oh yeah, we're the ones selling the lanterns. Take it from me the're great. And my name is Trini. I'm in the middle with my cat Whiskers. Thats my story.

Dad said I can have this page to say anything I like. There's no school now so I have lots of time, well maybe not so much time. Between the vegetable garden, swimming, reading and my horse riding lessons at Thornwood — that takes up most of my day.

Here's a picture of when I won second place in the riding competition. Ok my brother helped me get the pictures ready and here they are. Hope you like them. I found another picture of mom from last winter when we made the maple sugar candy from the syrup.

I didn't tell her yet that I am putting it here but you can see us collecting the maple sap. It takes a lot of boiling but it's really the best. Vermonts famous for that. We might sell some here but I don't know yet.

Before, we had a really big windstorm and the power was out almost all day. We used the hand pump to get water for cooking. My dad came home late and took a bath outside. Brr. That was too cold. But he was really dirty. My brothers gave a lantern to our neighbors, the Cramers. We figured they might need it and sure enough Mrs. Cramer was trying to cook dinner with a flashlight in one hand. She really appreciated it and sent us a thank you note later:

Thank-you for bringing light into our dark home when the electricity went out. Thank you so much for the lantern.
Sincerely, The Cramer Family

My mom was at the store and got stuck because the gas pump wouldn't work without electricity. That night we saw a lot of dark houses. I guess they weren't prepared. Its really not a bad idea to be prepared. Here, in the country everybody helps their neighbors and are ready for just about anything. We hear a lot about not worrying about the power going out and you know what — we don't worry, because we're ready when the lights go out. My dad says he sleeps better at night not having to worry about any of this anymore. I hope you don't have to worry either. See you.