During the first months of 1983, I was in Haiti with the Christian Veterinary Mission (click here to learn more) . I worked as a vet tech on various animal husbandry endeavors about half my time in the countryside and the other half in Port-au-Prince. Haiti was desperately poor, and life there was difficult no matter how you looked at it."Overwhelmed" is the best word to use when you talk about Haiti - Overwhelming poverty, spiritual activity of the bad kind, hunger, desperate catch-22 problems. No where to start to fix things apart from the grace of God.Yet I was so impressed with the Haitian people, their great sense of humor and ability to not take themselves too seriously despite the dire circumstances of their lives.

I recall walking up a long mountain with several Haitians (Haiti is mountains and more mountains). The interpreter had gone ahead into the village. Someone asked me a question like, What's your last name?" or "Who's your best friend?" Whatever the question, I answered mistakenly with the word for "donkey." They laughed good-heartedly and brayed for hours.When we got to the village, they asked the interpreter where I came from. They didn't believe I was American, because Americans don't smile as much as I did. What they didn't know was that my non-stop smile was me gasping for breath.

I learned a lot from the Haitian people. I was offered a job in Haiti, and if I had been more heat-tolerant, I would have seriously considered it. Despite all Haiti's problems, you "couldn't not" love the people. Now this series of earthquakes leaves those same people in overwhelming distress.

Please keep Haiti in your prayers, and give to an appropriate agency that can get relief supplies where they are needed. Don't forget a special hug for your family and your horses.

So we put aside food and flashlights. We started quite a ways in advance, adding a box of this or bag of rice each week to our grocery shopping. Eventually we had enough supplies to last a few weeks. And I learned lots of ways to cook rice and beans (a skill that I’ve used plenty in the years since).

When this winter hit, we were glad that we had made contingency planning a part of our routine. Here in North Carolina, it’s been unusually cold, but not like what the midwest has experienced. Nonetheless, we woke up one morning to no water. We had power, but the water line had frozen. We didn’t have to think twice about where water for our morning coffee would come from. We went downstairs and grabbed a gallon, had coffee and oatmeal, and were back in business and ready to go deal with the frozen water line.

“Contingency thinking” is kind of a way of life for me, as it is for many horse people. In the same way a pilot makes a pre-flight check, I consider:
* What if we don't have power? Can't pump water from the well. Heat pump won't work. Cordless phone won't work, and so forth.
* What if there's a gas shortage or other supply disruption? No food in grocery stores. Can't run out to buy hay.

Still, however well you think through the what ifs, there’s only so much you can control. You can make preparations, but then you have to be flexible in order to determine what’s an inconvenience and what’s a crisis.

Fortunately, good horse folks (and parents) have lots of practice when it comes to inconvenience. We prepare the best we can, then roll with the punches. I am excited to see what 2010 will hold.

P.S. Thank you for the holiday greetings and nice comments you’ve sent regarding “An Extra Flake.”  I am thrilled that it has been an encouragement to so many people. Thank you for spreading the word about it. If there’s anything I can do to help you, don’t hesitate to write me. (In 2009, I began a free daily inspirational email for horse people called, “An Extra Flake.” To subscribe, go to http://www.inspiredbyhorses.com/subscribe)