Write It Down! The Importance of Hard Copies

A couple of decades ago, I tired of having a bookshelf full of cookbooks that contained only one or two recipes each that we actually used.  As it was a colossal waste of valuable space, I typed up the family favorite recipes and printed several copies to be kept in notebook binders.  When new recipes came along, I simply wrote them in.  As each child married, s/he received a copy.

What I didn’t write in, much to the consternation of the kids, were the personal tweaks I made to each recipe, whether an ingredient was omitted or the method of preparation was altered. 

I compiled the family recipe notebook because I didn’t want the kids asking me for recipes all the time.  Yes, simply taking a picture of the recipe and texting the image is rather simple, but it takes time.  And then multiply that by five children.  At dinnertime.  Throw in the possibility that I may not be home at the time to take that picture, and someone’s needing to get dinner on the table, and well, it just becomes a mess.

So even though a child might need a particular recipe only once a year, it was clear each needed his own copy in his own home. 

And then I extrapolated that thought to preparedness references.  We have to have our own copies.  While I understand the argument for putting all the references on a phone or thumb drive, I personally feel hard copies are essential.  I just don’t trust electronics that much.  To each his own.

Whether you write it yourself, copy it from an online source, or buy it already written, make sure you have a personal hard copy.  Don’t rely on someone else to teach you in a time of need.  They’re gonna be busy with their own problems to address.  And communication channels may not be entirely functional.  When it comes to meeting basic needs especially, we’ve got to have our own references.

Take, for example, water.  How do most people plan to purify their water when the Jenga tower falls?  Boiling?  Of course, that’s a surefire method.  Do you remember how long the water must boil at your altitude?  Or what if the stove doesn’t work and firewood must be conserved?  Can you use bleach?  How much bleach per quart of water?  How old is the bleach?  Is it still good?  Will it do the job?  Or will it just create the illusion of safety, of water purification?  Will that illusion sicken or kill you? 

Do you have all your methods of water purification written down and accessible at a moment’s notice?  Do you have calcium hypochlorite (pool shock) instead of bleach?  What about SODIS?  Do you remember how many hours of sunshine are required to disinfect the water or how full the bottle should be?  Do I remember?  Are you kidding?  No, I don’t.  That’s why I write things down. 

I do, however, know exactly where to find the answers to those questions and can do so within a minute or two—because I have the hard copies and know where they are.

And therein lies another issue.  We experience this problem with the recipe binder because it has no index.  Usually when they call me looking for a recipe, I tell them it’s in the book.  But they can’t find it. While I know where everything is, the rest of the family does not.  And for now, I can guide them to the right page.  When it comes to questions that can be answered by checking a reference, I can tell them which book to look in, and they can check the index.  But for those answers not found in books?  Like where is the penicillin?  Or the vitamins?  Or the chocolate chips?  Well, never mind about the chocolate chips and candy.  They can sniff those out pretty well on their own.

For the other essentials, however, they need a hard copy of an “index” posted in an obvious location.  I may not be around to provide the answers.  Or I might start having those senior moments even if I am around.  They need to know exactly where ingredients are stored.  Where the antibiotics are hidden.  Where the gloves, masks, gauze, and tape are.  Because with many of these items, particularly the small ones, if the family can’t find them, we may as well not have them. 

Write it down.  Have hard copies of essential references.  You’re going to need them.