A taste of third world living

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. One thing I learned here in hurricane country:

when the gas guage hits 1/2, I fill up, always, without fail. I treat it like it is empty.

2nd thing was to buy a chest freezer and keep lots of ice in it, also clean water in gallon jugs, frozen.

Our closest neighbor has a gas stove and a standing offer for us to use it if needed.

Hurricane Ivan left this town without power for 3 weeks.
A movie company was filming here at the time, and lent the town 3 huge generators.
Ice donations almost always arrive quickly in situations like this.
Power trucks always show up, assess, leave but return when they can fix the lines, which is usually pretty quickly.
And people usually know who the drivers are, often because they are related to them somewhere along the line.

I love the security of a small town, of knowing all the neighbors in a 2 block radius, of knowing even more people who will come and cut a tree off my roof, whatever is needed.
In southern small towns, there are no strangers, usually.
It's a good feeling.