Grandma's Armageddon Stash

My mom told me it was because Grandma saw WW I, the Depression, and WW II. In the sixties, when she lived in a house with an attic, Grandma kept barrels of oatmeal and rice. She had canned goods of all kinds stacked in the attic. Things would get outdated, and she'd have to use them real quick before they got raunchy.

Then Pap died, and Grandma moved to a small, tidy pre-fab house. She had less space for stashing. She bought an extra refrigerator and a couple of freezers. One was big enough to store whole frozen dolphins in--or bodies! It was huge. It was full to the top with blueberries, strawberries, peaches, flour and other sundries.

Then, she got her sons to dig out a cool, old-fashioned root cellar adjoining the basement.

By now, it was the 70's and Vietnam had ended. I asked Grandma why she kept canning meat, fruit, and veggies--more than she could possibly eat in a lifetime. "If we ever have a major disaster, I want to be able to feed my whole family--all my kids and all their kids." Grandma couldn't prevent nuclear war, but she was prepared to alleviate the suffering of friends, family and neighbors.

It sounded simple, if not a little crazy. Why, the grocery stores offered fresh stuff every day! If we got worried, we could just buy an extra week's shopping. Surely no disaster would last more than a month or two.

Grandma had a deep, abiding faith that God would take care of us all. But she planned to help if He allowed us to get in trouble, in His alighty love and wisdom.

My own mom kept a good fruit cellar full of potatoes and canned goods, plus a freezer full of venison and beef. It didn't rival Grandma's stash, but it insulated us against strikes. Daddy was a coal miner, and some of the guys would strike if there was no soap in the showers. That kind of nonsense cut a grocery budget tight.

We ate a lot of tasty home-grown, home-canned and home-baked food that puts to shame our store bought substitutes today.

May parents have both passed on, as Grandma has. In view of the current crisis, maybe, I've had dreams all week that my family of five has moved into Grandma's basement. Grandma's there making room for us, showing us where to put our things.

And I think I would feel more comfortable, more in control of the crazy world situation, if maybe I started my own Armageddon stash. A little canned meat, some water, just enough to help my neighbors out if there's a shortage. As it is, I'm barely prepared to make it through a small hurricane! We have lived as though current prosperity would never end.

Sometimes, we've ignored God and our prayers as though all would blissfully fall together in spite of our ignorance of spiritual things. But now it's time to pray, read scriptures, and live like Grandma lived.

And maybe I'll start putting together a little Armageddon stash of my own. Maybe we'll never need it, but just in case, I'll feel a little more prepared. nnn