From September 13, 2010 Written right after I was back home after being evacuated for wildfire (I was gone 5 days). With recent wildfires near loved ones, I thought I’d share this again.

Living in the forest has always brought with it a possibility of wildfire. For over twenty years I have learned and implemented as much as I could about wildfires, had an emergency plan in place and actually prepared to evacuate several years ago. So when the word came out Monday around noon to get ready to leave, there was no panic, just action putting the plan into place.

Then on Thursday, when the winds kicked up again and the city of Boulder advised an additional nine thousands residents to be prepared just in case they needed to be evacuated, the response was more chaotic. I know of people who panicked along with people who refused to believe there was any need for action.

The most common question was what should I do?

Since the events of this week have made it clear that a disaster could happen to any one of us, here is my advice.

The time to prepare for a disaster is now, especially if you are not in any immediate danger.

Don’t wait until you have to think up a plan while scared, anxious, or needing to help others. It won’t take more than an hour or so to come up with your plan. Even if you can’t find your plans and lists when disaster does strikes, you’ll be able to recreate quite a bit of it from memory.

The most valuable part of planning for me was knowing where things were. I keep many papers in a file close to the phone and so was able to pack up a lot of valuable information very quickly.

Here are some lists that can be stored on a cell phone, computer, and also printed out and kept near the home phone for easy access:

• Phone numbers and addresses for family and friends, with as many cell and home phone numbers as you can gather (and make sure you know which one is which).
• Phone numbers for health care professionals and health insurance.
• Phone numbers for house insurance, lawyer, accountant, or any other advisors.
• Phone numbers for neighbors.
• Phone numbers for employers – making sure you have some alternate contacts.

Here are other lists that should be kept more securely (I have a fireproof box).

• List of logins and passwords for internet accounts.
• List of driver’s license numbers, social security numbers, and passport or visa numbers for all family members.
• Copies of first 2 pages of recent tax returns.
• Copies of recent investment accounts.

Here are some things that ought to be stored off site.

Now is the time to set up safe deposit boxes, offsite computer backups, or whatever is needed.

• Birth, marriage, divorce and any other life defining certificates.
• Deeds and titles to registered vehicles.
• Wills, power of attorney, stock certificates, etc.
• Back up of critical computer files.
• If you ever are organized enough to create a home inventory (video or via list), keep a copy of this off site as well.

With wildfires or bad storms, people are often back in their homes in a day or so, but I recommend packing enough clothes, toiletries, medicines, etc. as if going on a three day trip, and taking at least one extra pair of shoes. Pets should have everything they need for at least three days as well. Make sure you take all check books, credit cards, and all cash in the house along with you (I dumped my bowl of coins in my purse and was glad to have change handy). In addition, I have just added the cell phone charger, police scanner, binoculars, flashlight, and a jacket to my list of what to take for the next evacuation. Hurricane evacuees have blankets, water and food on their list, and they often plan out their routes clear ahead of time. When traveling in winter I carry candles and matches to help heat a stranded car. Everyone’s list is going to be a bit different, I am just hoping everyone has a list and gives a little extra thought now to what they will do in an emergency. For those who may not have heard, I got home to a house that suffered no damage. In fact, there wasn’t even a momentary power outage during the evacuation. But it would have only taken one larger wind gust, or just a slightly slower response from fire fighters and my tale could have been quite different.

The Boy Scouts got it right. Be prepared.

In a few weeks, I will be in the midst of my mother’s one hundredth birthday celebrations. Ten years ago, when we celebrated her 90th, I ended up bleary eyed and hoarse from trying to keep up with her and with all her friends and relatives. For that weekend they had me going from dawn until way past my bedtime trying to enjoy the time and also help my siblings host and run the party.
My contribution was a slide show that played on a TV in the corner of the room during the open house. It contained family pictures from the past sixty years, with the lone commonality between all of them being my mother. If she wasn’t in the photo, it didn’t get into the slide show.
I knew I wasn’t sharp enough to put them in correct chronological order, so I mixed them up.

Flash. It’s 1958 and the family is lined up, in Sunday clothes, squinting at the camera.

Flash. Mom and her sisters standing before a covered bridge sometime before 1985.

Flash. Mom sitting in front of her computer sometime recently, concentrating on the screen, oblivious of the photographer.

Flash. 1977, a reunion at Kent Park. Did we really wear polyester to picnics?
I hoped it kept the subject matter fresh, as we bounced around through time over hundreds of photos. People seemed to like it, with someone in front of the TV all afternoon. I think part of its success was that each slide appeared for only eight seconds on the screen before passing by. The timing took some effort to work out. Older people need more time to view a photo, while the next generation only needs milliseconds. Do I allow time for someone to expound on a funny (or not so funny) story that the photo triggered? Or hurry through to keep the horror of some of those hairdos from spoiling the mood? I settle on eight seconds – no time to analyze how bad the focus or exposure was on each photo, just enough time to recognize the time and place, smile, and move on.
In case you’re wondering, it turns out that those awful pictures taken when you were young don’t get any better with age. They are still awful. Time, though, does allow you and everyone around you to laugh at them. Loudly. There are even new things to laugh at — the fashions we took seriously way back when, and the realization that some very old people used to be young, and bare remarkable resemblances to the cute babies of their offspring.
It will be interesting to see how the next slide show looks. Photographs have changed. 10 years ago most of the photos came from the Kodakchrome age – where film and developing costs meant you took pictures almost entirely at big events. There were few action shots – it seemed mandatory to line up, stand up straight, and keep still before the shutter was clicked. You kept the photos even if they were dark, blurry, and/or with heads, feet, or entire persons cut off. Each photo was a treasure, as out of that lined up, bad lighting world personalities and relationships still pop out. There’s that one boy that is shown picture after picture with shirt untucked, arms akimbo, or in motion. The gentle hand of the older sibling holding the littler one still, showing a family that got along.
Today, photography has become an integral part of every day life. Pictures depict smaller events or no event at all. People take more photos of themselves than pointing their many camera lens at others. Many are meant to only last 8 seconds then disappear. What will there be for the slide shows of the future?
On my drive home to Colorado after the 90th birthday party, I spent the entire drive collecting my thoughts and rehashing the events of the weekend. I remember making a complete fool of myself by not recognizing one of my first cousins. This trumps my faux pas at my mother’s eightieth birthday party, where I failed to recognize my former next-door neighbor, last seen when he was not yet a teen. But still, at this rate I won’t need to plan birthday parties for myself, as I’ll be lucky to recognize myself!
I ruminated on how I didn’t get to talk to so many of the people who were there. With the crowds that come from large families and lots of friends, I was only able to wave to some people from across the room. Others I only know were there because they signed the guest book.
I had also figured there would be some old-fashioned line up photo sessions galore, but there didn’t seem to be enough time or room to pose for pictures. Instead, there are lots of pictures with someone’s arms in the way, with people moving or with their backs turned. And a lot of open mouths talking and smiling.
But as I thought of all the people I wanted to spend more time with, including my mother and all my brothers and sisters, I realized that this weekend was just like the slide show.

Flash. For what seemed like only eight seconds I met my new grand-niece.

Flash, a moment with an old neighbor from the farm.

Flash, hugging my aunt.

Flash.

Flash. Oh no, I’ve forgotten who you are.
Sometimes life is like that, passing by in appears to be eight-second flashes. Some would say this might be the best way to be with relatives, eight seconds at a time. But most of my eight-second flashes that weekend went by too fast, captivating me and leaving me wanting more.
Now I’m older, and the world seems to be going faster. I’ve turned the slide show over to the next generation, so now it’s my niece’s dilemma, deciding which photo makes it in, what order to place them, how long to let them display. I have enough to do to get the events organized, pour over old slide shows trying to remember names, and get ready to enjoy life in a flash.