Many stories about great rainfalls that cause devastating floods begin by stating, “It started as a trickle.” Well, with my annual bout with laryngitis and bronchitis, I can honestly say, “It started as a tickle.”
My seasonal battle with the bug usually starts in November or December. I’ll be feeling just fine, enjoying the holidays, having fun, with feasting and fellowship. Then, one morning, I’ll notice a slight tickle in my throat. It’s nothing much – no pain or discomfort – just a little-bitty tickle. The tickle might last for a day or two, then I’ll notice just a hint of discomfort while swallowing.
Then … Wham! It hits with full force.
As a retired respiratory therapist, I know the symptoms. I know the difference between the flu and a cold. I get my flu shot every year – without fail. I also know that the “common cold” can be anything but common. It can cause sore throats, nasal congestion, coughing, lung congestion, productive cough (that’s always nasty), laryngitis, bronchitis and tracheitis.
Basically, name anything from the scalp to the bellybutton and a common cold can make it painful and yucky. How’s that for medical terminology? Yucky.
Due to this yucky cold, the whole past week has been pretty much a blur. For the first time in five years, I didn’t write a column for the Wilmington News Journal.
We had a family dinner with 43 people at our house last Sunday. I love having family and friends around, but I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I would have liked. I also attended a few meetings this week. We got some good work done, had some great discussion, but my whole head wasn’t in it. I apologize to anyone who had to endure my raspy voice. It couldn’t be helped.
Friends, we have a whole winter ahead of us. It may not be completely possible to prepare for a cold, but we can get ready for the winter ahead. Let’s get prepared.
We are bound to have plenty of sub-freezing weather. Snow is already in the forecast. Travel will become difficult, if not impossible at times. Food, even warmth, may be difficult to come by before this winter is past. So, we should start getting ready right now.
The survival literature says that a human can only go three minutes without air, three days without water and 30 days without food. That is the bleakest of survival scenarios. Ideally, each of us should be able to survive in our homes for at least two weeks without assistance from outside. To do that, we need to have available at least one gallon of water per person, per day. That’s a lot of water.
If you use well water, you need to consider whether the well will continue to operate without electricity. If the electricity goes out, do you have a hand-pump? That would be worth adding to your emergency stockpile. In town, the water will probably continue to flow … unless there are water main breaks or the pipes freeze. These could easily happen in sub-freezing, blizzard conditions.
Without these readily available water resources, a family of four would need to have stored 56 gallons of water to survive for two weeks, slightly over 100 gallons to survive a month. Very few people have that much water available. Think about it. That’s a lot of water. The average bathtub holds about 50 gallons of water. That should be the first thing you do if you think your water supply might be interrupted — fill the tub with water.
Chances are you might have enough food in your refrigerator, pantry and freezer to last a few weeks. Before those few weeks are over, you will probably finish off the can of butterbeans that has been hidden in the back of the pantry. That oddly shaped package of … something that has been covered up in the bottom of your freezer might become the makings for a pot of stew. But, do you have enough? You might want to consider stocking up on some canned meats and soups. Be prepared. Be sure your pantry is fully stocked.
There is a saying among disaster preparedness professionals: “The further you are from your last disaster, the closer you are to your next disaster.” The last really kick-butt history-making blizzard we had was in February of 1978. We’ve had some really good snowstorms since then, but nothing like the blizzard of ’78. We’re almost 40 years from our last bad blizzard. We need to get ready. Every day we are getting closer to our next big blizzard. Get ready for it. It’s coming.
It’s hard to get ready for the common cold. It really does sneak up on you … like a tickle. But, each of us needs to get ready for what might really hit us hard this winter – a blizzard.
Stock up on food and water. Double check your heat options. Get prepared and stay prepared.
Randy Riley is President of Council of Wilmington.
Editor’s Note: After much deliberation, we will allow Randy to miss one column every five years.
