By LEE SCOTT
There are things in my house that I totally forget about until I suddenly need them. Like the pair of leather gloves and the wool hat in the basket in my front hall.
I see that basket every time I open the front hallway closet, but it is only when the temperature drops during the winter months when I am conscious of their existence.
It is also the same with the Scrabble, Monopoly, and Battleship games that are under the bed in the grandkids bunk room. I vacuum in there throughout the year, but don’t think about the games until the kids come and it’s a rainy day, and somebody says, “Let’s play some games.”
It is then that I direct them to the forgotten item spot.
More of these hidden objects appeared this past week. The weatherman said “Something might come up the coast,” and we started to make our plans.
That is when I remembered, there is a cabinet in our kitchen that holds our day-to-day dishes. We open those doors numerous times throughout the day. I never notice the maps and checklists taped to the inside of the doors.
I put them up there when we first moved into our home. There are the Beaufort County emergency numbers, the South Carolina evacuation route map, and emergency checklists. There is also our own evacuation emergency plan, because ultimately the generic lists don’t take into consideration our own personal essentials like our senior dog’s supplies and our other personal items.
My husband knows to fill up the cars with fuel and get cash, but the gas for our little generator is a necessity too. If the lights go out, we can hook up the fridge and TV set. We also are reminded to get the old television antenna out of the attic for when the cable is out.
As I grabbed some dinner plates to set my dinner table, I looked at my checklists taped on the doors.
“I wanted to continue to ignore you,” I said sadly. “I wanted you to stay hidden from me, just like my leather gloves, my wool cap, and the grandkid’s games.”
But instead of ignoring them, I pulled the checklists down and made a copy of each one. I proceeded to make check marks next to the items I knew I wanted to take and checked off the preparations we had to make before we left our home.
It was kind of sad, but sometimes, the weather is unpredictable, and you might as well be prepared. Besides, before long, I will open my cabinet doors to get the breakfast dishes and the checklists will be once again, some of those forgotten items.
