Although no one knows if we’ll get another frost or even snow, it feels like spring is creeping up on us here in the Pacific NW. The camelia outside my window has broken open the buds that have been there since last November (talk about planning ahead!) and the hot pink tips remind me a bit of lipstick tubes.

An ice storm sent the power crashing off throughout the Willamette Valley this month. At first, just a two-hour morning blackout, but that same afternoon the power went down and stayed down for 20 hours. This happened about an hour before sunset.

As I put my backup plans in place, I couldn’t help but remember that the Oregon Seismic Safety Advisory Commission had recently issued a document stating that in the event of a severe earthquake (which is overdue here), it could be 3 to 4 months before power would be restored to the Valley. All through the night and the next day, I held that fact in mind, as I both prided myself on being mostly prepared and found out what pieces were still not in place. For those who either haven’t started preparing, or who haven’t been tested recently, I want to describe the situation and the lessons I learned.

(Introducing Cathy McGuire's new blog, "The Lazy Gardener")

Although I am an avid gardener, I confess that I am always looking for the ways that involve less physical work, less maintenance, less time and effort. That probably makes me a natural for permaculture. I haven’t taken a course, and I would be the last person to call myself an expert on any kind of gardening, but I wanted to share my experience with those people who feel perhaps that they can’t do it unless they do it hundred percent.