Yes "Psyops".
One of the worst things that a person can do in any "bad" situation is to sit back and feel sorry for oneself.
Sure, things were not as "planned" or "hoped for" and nobody expected IBC's, not buckets, not totes, not barrels, but IBC's of rain to fall in such a short period of time. & let me tell you one thing, "once it starts flowing, there is no stopping it". Don't think that sandbags or anything else can stop the flow. So, lessons learned there too.
However, once the worst is somewhat over with and we regrouped and reassessed the situation at hand, the first priorities were covered, so as to ensure food and water. Then the fun began after that.
"FUN", yes, fun. Might sound "boring" or "tedeous" and some parts always are, remember, the mind is constantly thinking about "what happened", so anything done is not "as much fun as it would be in a normal scenario". However, doing something that CAN BE SEEN makes a world of difference in the psych of things.
Even if it be something as simple as preparing flower beds along 6 billion miles of driveway!
Mi Mrs went out and got some native flowers, from alongside the road, there is an overabundance of them. We got a branch of Frangipani, which we broke up into smaller sticks, let them sit for about a day or so and then planted individually.
Used soil that gets washed into the small dam, which has an overabundance of frogs and tadpoles in it, so there has to be some good stuff for plants in that soil too. Purchased a few bags of all purpose potting mix, to put on top and serve as fertilizer and nutrients. Used dried up sticks and tore up some cardboard boxes that we picked up to help fill in the volume. Note: we also used a bunch of school books that were totally soaked/destroyed in the rains/flood. Unfortunately, they didn't make it! But now they got repurposed.
Again, all this is literally a part of the process. Getting up in the morning, doing something constructive, creative, positive and that will BE SEEN. This all helps the mind get back on track and to ensure we don't "simply give up" or "fall into some sort of self pity or depression" etc etc etc.
Again, the kids were great, they gave us extra energy and will power.
Remember, no electricity, the power tools used are all battery operated and the batteries were in the boot of the car, so they didn't get destroyed.
That was pure luck. Because after fixing the trailer along the way up to our property, the bag with the power tools and batteries, well, I chucked them into the back seat of the ute. I didn't put them back where they should have been. If I had, they too would have been offloaded and probably soaked/killed. So yeah, sometimes, it all comes down to the "luck of the draw". Not all things go as planned, not all things are done in accordance with ones SOP and sometimes, rarely, but as in this case, it all works out.
So, by the time we get back up and start over for a second time round, there may be some plants and flowers waiting for us and we will have to add more soil to the pots and more potting mix and more leaves etc to cover the new soil from the sun!
So not only did this little exercise help in the immediate situation, it also helps in the future too.
Apart from this, I'm not sure what else to say about it all for now. Still trying to collect bits and pieces around so as to minimize the damages (reduce the $ figure).
Stay safe,
God bless.
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