Good advice! Especially the part about the dog. Mine barks too much if I'm around though. She doesn't bark AT ALL if I'm not in the house. Some guard dog. But great company!

I recently read that we should be eating the food we stored for SHTF times right now. It was so cold recently that I didn't leave my house for four days, and had to eat the food. I learned a lot about where my stores are weak, what I feel like when I eat it, and what other types of foods I need to keep around especially protein sources. So I recommend doing test runs of eating the food you expect to live on when SHTF.

I got a whole house generator, put in a wood stove for when all else fails, and plan to stay right here in my house whatever happens. I've got homeopathics, essential oils, dried herbs, tinctures and salves, a garden that produces lots of food and herbs right out back, and neighbors of like mind. I don't think we quite get up to twenty, so I'll have to gather a few more. The sheriff here is a constitutional sheriff, and nearly everyone is armed. It might be New York State, but my hope is that this community will go on and on. We'll see!