PREPACK / PREPARE TO SURVIVE

 

Journal

PREPACK / PREPARE TO SURVIVE

Bill Barksdale, Columnist

Clip & Save this column.  You may have just minutes to get ready & go in an emergency.  There are many kinds of disasters. Here’s how to prepare to survive.  On the internet go to readyforwildfire.org for great information.  Always have a packed and ready-to-grab “go bag” or backpack near the door or in your vehicle.  In addition, have a pair of shoes & flashlight next to the bed so you won’t cut your feet on broken glass.  Don’t count on government services in an emergency.  They will be overwhelmed.  Power may be out so PACK NOW.   Don’t wait till tomorrow. 

Make sure every Family Member knows what to grab and how to reach each other in an emergency.  Prearrange a contact phone number to call, someone out of the area that everyone will know to call in case you get separated.  Always keep the gas tank topped-off for any escape vehicles.  Preplan how you will contact & meet each other in an emergency.  Preplan the best escape routes in each direction.  Traffic will be heavy.  Evacuate early.  Agree on a safe meeting place that each family member knows about.  Check on vulnerable neighbors.

As you leave: Shut off gas at the meter (always have a wrench attached) & turn off propane tanks. Close all windows vents & doors. Turn off heaters & air conditioning. Turn off any attic fan, close windows, shut off faucets. Move flammable furniture & stuff away from windows to middle of room. Turn off stove & appliances

A note about clothing: Cotton or wool is best in a fire.  Plastic/synthetic fiber melts and can burn you. Have a whistle to call for help.

GO BAG: 

Cell Phone - Emergency Cash (minimum $100.00 in $1.00’s, $5.00’s, $10.00’s + coins. There may not be ATM’s) – check books & credit cards – extra reading glasses - change of clothes especially underwear - jacket (cotton or wool is best) - sturdy shoes (not flip flops or sandals) – hat - flashlight -  extra batteries - cell phone charger (get one that plugs into wall socket & car outlet) - First Aid Kit: bandages, elastic bandage, gauze pads, paper tape, instant cold packs, scissors, sanitizer, Neosporin & usual items - Can Opener - plastic or metal utensils (spoons are more useful than forks) – knife - bowl(s) or Metal Cups - prescription medications - pocket knife – keys - Toilet Articles: toothbrush & paste, soap, shampoo, nail clipper, small scissors, , non-talc powder (corn starch is great), razor, skin cream (can be used for shaving too), sanitary products - small towels - hand sanitizer – masks - CHILD SUPPLIES: Diapers & Wipes, plastic bags for disposal, bowl & spoon, sunscreen, games & toys, Authorization to Consent to Treatment of Minor Form completed , instant baby food - SENIORS: Incontinence underwear, wipes, oxygen, catheters, prescriptions (fresh), batteries for hearing aids.

PREPACK YOUR VEHICLE:

Fire extinguisher – toilet tissue (a metal bucket or 5 gallon bucket with kitchen garbage bags makes a good “toilet” in emergency) – gloves both work & disposable. You may be handling blood. – masks - poncho & plastic ground cloth - tent if you have one – blanket or sleeping bags – rope – matches or lighter – paper & pencil  – hydrogen peroxide - Tools: wrench, 4-in1 tool, hammer, screw driver (multi-head type), pliers, duct tape –pry bar – jumper cables or a portable car battery charger from your local auto supply store –  a tire pump is a good idea – car jack & spare tire – 1 qt motor oil – 1 qt transmission fluid - cell phone charger that plugs into car outlet, GPS.

OTHER ITEMS PACKED TO GRAB QUICKLY. Most will Prepack in 1 or more boxes, covered plastic is good:

Water 2-3 gallons per person if possible – Packaged Food: granola bars, dried fruit, trail mix, dry cereal, canned food, multi-vitamins, + can opener (Search “Emergency Food” on internet)  - paper towels - computer or hard drive & charger(s) - walker for Seniors -– pry bar – battery lantern(s), deck of cards, book(s), Zip-Lock bags – Moist Towelettes - garbage bags – bleach (8 drops per gallon or ½ tsp per 5 gallons to purify water) – IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS: Insurance contact info & policies, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, Advance Health Care Directive (very important to have on file at all local hospitals & when traveling), Trust & Will, - portable radio – photos if there’s time.  NOTE:  Don’t load up on photos & tchotchkes in an emergency escape.  Your life is more important.

INSURANCE: 

A special NOTE about insurance claims.  Make sure you have “Code Upgrade coverage” on your homeowner insurance policy.  Insurance companies are sometimes difficult to collect from.  You can be more prepared by creating a detailed inventory of the contents of your home &/or business.  Make it yourself or you can download such a form on the internet or may be able to get one from your insurance agent.  It should include your Insurance Company name, Agent name & contact info, Policy #, your property address.  Then go room-by-room and note each item & include where applicable the room where item is located, brief description of item, model, serial #, date of purchase, price paid, current replacement value (be accurate, if you pad the price your claim may be denied as fraudulent) & have pictures of the items. A video of your home with a running verbal commentary is a good document.  Include: furniture, appliances, art, media, clothes, linens, kitchen ware & garden tools, etc. Also document home improvements such as new windows, solar, newer roof, electrical & plumbing improvements, remodels & upgrades.  Keep a copy in a safe place like a safe-deposit box at your bank or with a trusted family member or friend out of the area.  Take a copy with you. 

PETS: food & treats – water & food bowls – poop bags – leash – muzzle – medications – cat litter & small box like plastic dish pan for litter box – plastic bags for disposal - Have a carrier handy near door –blanket or bed – Veterinarian contact info & pet license if available.

LIVESTOCK:   Have an evacuation plan for large animals.  Train them to load up quickly into your trailer and have a safe place to take them.  Set them free if nothing else.  Be ready to move quickly.  Never leave animals tied or penned.

On Golden Pond, Carlin Diamond, Joe Dowling

                                      Lips Together, Teeth Apart - set design by Bill Barksdale
 

JOURNAL

There’s No Business like?

Bill Barksdale, Columnist

Show business!  I remember years ago Mavis Bromaghim, “Grandma Mavis” to almost everyone, telling me about The Willits Players which was the ancestor of the Willits Community Theatre.  “We used to pull a flatbed truck up to a park and do plays off the back” she told me excitedly as she recalled her younger days.  A snippet of Willits’ cultural history. 

I remember seeing plays at the Grange when it was a musty relic, not the lovingly restored community treasure it is now, and the Willits United Methodist Church has been such a friend to the performing arts in our community.  Then in 1992 local theater aficionado, Brooks Darrow, called one day and asked me to look at a building he and some theater friends were considering converting into a permanent theater for Willits.  I walked into an abandon car repair garage at the intersection of West Van Lane and Muir Lane behind the Van Hotel. 

“What do you think?” Brooks inquired.  I couldn’t quite picture it although I’d seen less likely spaces in New York like the long, narrow Astor Place Theater that was more like a tunnel than a theater.  Brooks was a rare human.  His every breath was a creative exhalation.  Over the ensuing months a group of innovative, hardworking volunteers worked on the space.

Sometime later the Board Chair for the Willits Community Theatre invited me to see what they had done.  I was astonished, and I mean that, to walk into a jewel of a theater!  “We need someone to take this place for a test drive” Lanny Cotler said.  It was more of a request than a statement.  He knew I had a theater background.  “You can choose any play you want.  See what this place can do.”  I chose to direct the special-effects loaded gothic thriller The Haunting of Hill House, to open around Halloween. 

We installed a sound system.  Joe Dowling, who had been a lighting designer in San Francisco used every lighting instrument we could get our hands on to create eerie effects bringing Brooks’ magnificent haunted house set to life.  John Beatty spent a month recording and laying down tracks for the complicated sound effects.  We had a production crew of 27 people and a cast of 7 actors!  Collectively we spent literally thousands of hours to create the play.  As Director I worked on it for 10 months.  The Haunting of Hill House ran for a month to sold-out houses. 

Over the past 30 or so years WCT has produced many live performances, plays, music and dance.  Classes have been taught in all aspects of theater production including directing, technical training, acting, children’s theater – and many hundreds of locals have donated uncounted thousands of hours to bring live entertainment to Willits.  Thanks to a generous bequest from an early Managing Director of WCT, the late and beloved Donna Vaiano, the theater has managed so far to make it through the pandemic.  A dedicated Board of Directors and Producer Mike A’Dair have continued to work behind the scenes to keep things together. 

Why have a live theater?  Well, live entertainment is fun and from a purely financial aspect, Arts and Culture in 2017 accounted for $877.8 Billion dollars to our nation’s economy in 2017!  That’s 4.5% of U.S. gross domestic product – more than construction or transportation and warehousing, travel and tourism, mining, utilities and agriculture per the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Even in Willits a number of paying jobs are created by theater and the arts.  Also, when people go to the theater they often support other businesses like restaurants and local shops.  Everybody benefits.

In addition WCT and Willits Center for the Arts, a good friend to WCT, supplement the local school system with programs for students.  A number of Willits students have gone on to careers in the arts.  Theater teaches team-building, leadership skills, painting, music, technical skills, budgeting, sewing, construction, overcoming fear, even management skills.  Friendships that often last a lifetime begin at the theater.  People learn the nuts and bolts that spark creativity and problem solving.  One of the great, overlooked values of the arts is that they teach people how to think outside the box.  That’s a vital skill entrepreneurs require to innovate and create new businesses and jobs.  In California the arts are top job creators. 

You can help insure live entertainment and instruction survive in Willits by sending a donation in any amount to WCT, P.O Box 80, Willits CA 95490.  WCT’s website is at wctPerformingArtsCenter.org  where you can click on the Donate button.  For a season ticket subscription of just $7.00 / month you can see everything they do.  What a deal!  The theater is currently producing some online content, and when it’s safe it will once again provide live entertainment, education for children and adults, opportunities for volunteers behind the scenes and on stage, creativity, and the treasured friendships that result from working together.  Discover and support vibrant live theatre in our community.  As the most inclusive of all the arts there really is no business like show business.

This Day in Time

 

JOURNAL

This Day in Time

Bill Barksdale, Columnist

The alarm goes off.  It’s early.  My old cat is curled up at the bend of my knees.  He stretches lazily not sure if he really wants to get up or not.  I reach down and give him a scratch and a tickle.  He looks at me and yawns.  As I tuck my legs up to not disturb him he finally jumps off the bed to walk right in front of me knowing I’m on the way to the kitchen to dish out his scoop of canned food laced with his med.  I brush and floss my teeth then chug down a big glass of water like every morning.  It’s time to get ready for my yoga class.

I switch on the radio.  A bad idea as it turns out because the news story is about an angry, violent woman on an airplane who punches the flight attendant that asked her to please put her Covid mask on, knocking out the attendant’s teeth.  Since I have to fly in a couple of days myself to visit my 100 year old mother, I’m uncomfortable, even angry as the news story goes on to talk about crazy people attacking flight attendants.  What if some looney loses it on my flight?

I decide to walk to yoga.  It’s a beautiful day.  A light, balmy breeze.  Lots of birds tweeting and flying around.  Watching a bird fly always amazes me.  To fly, what a miracle.  I’ve always hated to see a bird in a cage.  I pass by a fence wrapped in fragrant vines of star jasmine blooms.  This is a good year for roses too.  Every yard seems to have magnificent roses of peach, yellow, deep red, pure white, some with that sweet perfume that only roses have.  I stop and sniff the ones closest to the sidewalk for a scent.  The sky is that delicious blue that stretches to infinity. 

As I step into the yoga space with its high ceilings, door and windows open - friends I’ve done yoga with for years, all vaccinated and spaced well apart, are slowly warming up their muscles, relaxing into a morning of stretching and letting go.  The old wooden floor seems welcoming.  My usual spot is already warmed from the sun streaming in the window.  I twist slowly then reach up toward the ceiling as far as I can and bend over to touch my toes, and my back lets go of some tightness. 

After class, a few of us walk to a nearby cafe’ with its outdoor tables shaded by large umbrellas flapping in the Spring breeze, the trickling of water from Morgan’s fanciful fountains are the music as we begin to laugh at the stories we share of the past week.  A cup of morning coffee.  Our breakfast stretches from an hour into two.  Finally the lunch crowd begins to drift in so we decide it’s time to move on to our days. 

I should vacuum when I get home, but decide the garden needs some weeding.  The tomatoes need their newest vines placed carefully up into their cages so they give each other room to space out and make lots of fruit for later in the summer.  The garden is a lot smaller this year to conserve water but I love those home-grown tomatoes.  I rarely buy tomatoes.  They can’t compare to the fruity, juicy ones I grow myself.  I always have some to share with friends.  There’s hardly a better gift for most people I know.  I look forward to those sandwiches with a big slice of my sweet treasures. 

My compost pile is filled with potatoes growing from last season’s peelings.  I decide to let them grow.  Looks like we’ll have a good crop.  My friends Steve & Fawn already have a huge crop of potatoes springing up.  Steve is so proud of his peaches.  He’s offered me a small peach tree in a pot that he grew from seed but I just don’t have room for any more trees in my yard which already has apples and plums readying for a Fall harvest.  I gathered my jars and lids early this year so I’ll be ready for canning time.

Off in the distance I hear the whistle of the Skunk Train.  I love that sound.  When I lived in New York City & San Francisco many years ago that was a sound I never heard.  The vacuuming can wait a while longer.  My neighbor, Bill, pops his head over the fence to ask how my day is going.  “Great”, I blurt out perhaps too enthusiastically.  I have the greatest neighbors.  What a blessing. 

It’s time to sit down and write for a while.  I can hardly get through a day without writing for half-an-hour or so.  Don’t know why.  Although I’ve written in a journal from time-to-time since I was in high school, I was never much of a writer, but now I don’t feel like my day is complete if I don’t write for a bit.  Just one of those habits I acquired as I’ve gotten older. 

Suddenly I get it into my head to play Electric Light Orchestra’s rapturous anthem All Over the World.  “Everybody all around the world, gotta tell you what I just heard.  There’s gonna be a party all over the world!”  I start rockin’ out and dancing.  It’s turning out to be a really fine day.  I grab the vacuum as I sing along and, almost like dancing, I’m shaking my booty and swooping around the house.  I wasn’t the first one to say it but, always try to reach for the thought that feels better!  Might get a clean house out of it.