I believe this is a good question to ponder these days. Our family lives day to day practicing, teaching and living a frugal self-sustaining traditional lifestyle. We know how to be prepared, but since the devastation of Sandy three weeks ago there are many people sadly realizing they are not prepared enough.

I started this post prior to Sandy even being in existence and didn't have enough time to complete it. I feel now more than ever ( more so because of our countries state) that we need to educate on our way of life. I am originally from the east coast, Pennsylvania to be exact and although I have no desire to go back and only miss our family and friends I can feel the devastation. I used to frequent the Jersey Shore once a year since I was 8 years old (yikes I am aging myself) and it was a fun and memorable time. Now a good part of it will never be the same. Our Mountain Boy was visiting while Sandy hit and my Mother's heart ached. He is home safe now, but my heart now ached for all those affected and our prayers go out to them.

A lot if people were unprepared for this and there are many more who are even unprepared for just a several day power outage.

Practicing preparedness for some is waking early enough to leave the house each morning to have time to purchase breakfast and coffee on the way to work. Others have a weeks worth of food stocked up just in case.

I am very thankful for my upbringing and what was instilled in me at a young age. My Mother kept our canning shelves stocked and at any given time we ran out if something you could be sure there would be at least another on the storage shelf if not 6.

Our economy and country are in a bad way and we feel that being prepared is very important. Being 100% prepared is probably not wise because it is very clearly stated in the bible that God is looking for us to rely on him, but he is giving us the tools to educate ourselves and be prepared.

There are definitely different levels of thought in regard to Self-Preparedness.

I have seen different variations of peoples thoughts on this subject, which include:

• Having a months worth of food in the pantry
• Stocking up on a years supply of dog food for the pets and being sure that you have your comfort foods available such as coffee creamers, candies, etc.
• Having gas masks and 10 years of food, ammo, medical supplies in a bunker

We are definitely prepared for anything, but in addition to our cache and other stocked items we also have educated ourselves and have the know-how to survive after we have used all our cache up! This my friend is the important part!

Do you know how to start a fire without a match, what wild plants, berries and roots are edible in your area? Do you know how to trap for food other than cornering your neighboring shopper for the last steak in the meat case? Do you know how to save your seeds? Do you know how to brain tan an animal hide to use for clothing? Do you know how to make an arrowhead to use in a bow?

My goal with Mountain Woman Journals is to help educate and share my knowledge.  Training on these and more traditional skills will be ahead via eBooks, videos and blog posts.

What skills are you interested in learning?

Stay tuned and thank you for following http://TrayerWilderness.com

Be sure to check out the below:
http://givenagift.com
http://mountainmanjournals.com
http://mountainboyjournals.com
http://spectrumkidsintheoutdoors.com