Be prepared or What was I thinking?

Sometimes it is easy to forget the need to be prepared. Not just for fire and flood, but for the smaller emergencies that can arise. This came home to me last week. We had been away for the day and on the way home I noticed the  petrol was very low, "no worries", I thought, will fill up on Monday morning (when our local shop and service station is open). However, the plan went awry when my daughter became ill during the night and needed to go to hospital in Canberra an hour away, and 50kms to the nearest Petrol station. The low fuel level made the trip additionally stressful,  (add in two of the biggest wombats I have ever seen and the vomiting passenger).
 It was a lesson in making sure we are well equipped when something unexpected occurs. From now on I will be making sure the fuel in the car is adequate for the trip to town, that we have plenty of batteries for the radio and torches, and the first aid kit is well stocked, small precautions that can make a difference when things go wrong and you live out of town.

Three weeks earlier, same daughter, same trip to hospital but this time I was in Canberra already. Heading towards the hospital, I thought everything was very dark then realised that my headlights were not working. Fortunately all the street lighting made the trip possible. Had I been at the farm it would have been impossible. Another lesson.