We are getting ready to celebrate Earth Day. It's such a good time to remind ourselves that our Earth is only as good as we maintain her. However lately, I have been feeling like things are a "little cuckoo for coco puffs" here on our Mother Earth.

Between the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and now Los Angeles, and the crazy weather happening on the East coast... I just have to wonder. What the heck is going on? Can a disaster really happen in my backyard, in my lifetime?

I live about 25 or so miles from the top of Mt. Hood, which is still an active volcano. I also am about 200 miles from the Oregon coast, where there is always potential for plate shifting on the fault lines. Not that I am complaining, I love where I live, but I do feel as though the potential for disaster to strike is probably pretty good in my lifetime. So, what do we do?

For years, I have blogged about getting a preparedness kit together and so this past month I finally got it started. Thus far, I have collected:

• food and water (four people + four days + kitty)
• tools (can opener and a few miscellaneous garage tools)
• first aide kit
• safety items (masks, blankets etc.)

What's always held me back from getting this started is that we are "campers," so we have all the gear and equipment to survive a disaster in the garage, already packed up. Now that I have my kit started where do I put all this stuff I have packed? I have a nice sealed container, but what if the house comes crumbling down, will I be able to find it? Will we be able to get to it? Will it get destroyed? All valid questions that make you really stop and think.

So help me out here, do you have a kit? Where do you keep it?