We decided a few months ago to get a new generator.

Reading the news, it seems clear that we will need one.

Our hearts break for the millions of people whose lives have been shattered by tornados, winds, floods, and fire. For the Grace of God…

I don’t t think anyone in the world can say they are immune, except for the climate deniers, first cousins to the vaccine deniers. Sometimes it feels as if we are rushing backward, right to the Dark Ages, when science was considered witchcraft and heresy.

We need to prepare ourselves and our homes to the best of our ability. It’s just time. I can’t embrace the idea that it’s better to be stupid than safe and alive.

There are all kinds of reasons to have power, from doing our work to keeping m medicine cold to feeding and caring for our animals and dogs. So much of our lives are online now.

I did a lot of research, talked to several generator installations and generator salesman, and went online to read about the machines.

We hired our very knowledgeable friend and landscaper and handyman Mike Conklin, to help us with the study and the choice of equipment.

Mike has done all kinds of work for us on our farm, from broken water lines to spent hot water heaters. He knows his stuff. He’s bought several generators and is close friends with several electricians.

Online, I read specs and reviews. Offline, I talked with a dozen friends and neighbors who have generators.

The hot generators right now are the full house generators, which come on automatically when the power goes out and shut down automatically when it comes back on. They power an entire home.

All the residents have to do is wait six or seven seconds, and everything in their house will have power. Those range in price from $7 or 8 thousand dollars, and after electrical and other costs, usually a few thousand dollars more.

We rejected that choice, we don’t have enough money, and neither of us minded the idea that we would have to pull a few switches ad go outside to get a generator on. The challenge was to find a portable generator that can power what we need to use.

Mike and I hatched a plan. I went online and found a generator that cost $1,600 dollars. He and Maria went over the mechanics of the installation. My job was to find the right machine.

He and an electrician came by and assessed our house and recommended getting a special power switch that would protect the home against surges and unanticipated blowback.

They both decided that for an additional $1,500 in electrical work, and with the generator I bought, we will be able to operate almost everything in the house and Maria’s studio, including our computers, refrigerator, heating, and hot water systems and lights.

If the cable doesn’t go out, we can go online and do our work, my medicines will stay cold, and we will be warm, Maria can make her art, and we will be able to shower and use the bathroom toilet and turn on the heating floorboards in the bedroom and the lamps downstairs.

We also have AT&T WI-FI and will be able to use our cellphones in any case.

This is what we need, and with the system we are buying, we don’t need to spend $8 to 10 thousand dollars.

One of us will have to go outside when the power goes out, pull the generator out of the barn (it’s on wheels) and turn it on. That doesn’t seem unmanageable to us.

We will also have to store gasoline (it also works on propane)  and perhaps go to town several times to get more gas if the outage goes on for a while.

This is a good compromise for us. After researching, we agreed we wouldn’t want the whole house system even if we could afford it; it’s just more than we need.

Mike is an excellent resource for us; he is intelligent, experienced, budget-conscious, and gives me and Maria confidence in our own decisions, as this is not something I know a lot about (Maria knows more).

Mike and Maria have talked a great deal about this plan, they are very much in sync. From now on, I’ll leave it to them, they understand one another, and when things get technical, I don’t understand anyone.

We always resisted the idea of a generator, but times are changing, and we need to recognize that and change with them.

This seems a sensible but efficient way to do it. I know we will be hit hard one day, I want to be as prepared as possible without being paranoid or hysterical. No drama.

Some of you might want to know the details of what we have bought and installed, but I’d prefer not to get into details like that now.

Unfortunately, many disturbed and broken people troll the Internet, and I’ve regretted it every time I’ve shared personal information.

I am not interested in being told by strangers why my decision is wrong, why our house and lives will suffer, that it shouldn’t snow on a running generator, that it should be started in the summer, why their Uncle Harry did a rain dance and blew the storm away, that some generators eat dogs and kittens, why we should suck it up and spend the big money, why I deserve to perish in a windstorm and am a vicious and dumb person.

In fact, I’ve already gotten several messages like that, and I only mentioned that we were thinking about a generator. I’m into being open, but I’m just not in the mood for that these days. Social media is awash in experts who know nothing.

Everyone has to do their research and make up their minds, as Maria and I did, with Mike’s help.

What’s good for us may not be suitable for you. I will share the installation details when they are finished, over the next few weeks.

This is a big step for us, and it feels like a good one.

Tomorrow we’re heading off for our one-night Christmas Eve retreat in Vermont. I’ll say goodbye in the morning.

(Above Maria and Mike look over our newly-installed switch box, the first step towards installing our generator.)