About Billfree Farms

 The simplest answer is yes and no. Let me explain:

I don’t want to spend too much time talking about the hurricanes, as this is not the focus of what Billfree Farms is really about. I do feel I need to tell a little background, so you can understand where this all got started. I think the hurricanes were more of a wake-up call for me then an actual disaster. (Again, I was lucky and I count my blessings for that). Yes, it was a devastating set of events. Two major hurricanes hitting the same area only 3 weeks apart. The 9th ward has still not recovered. Blah, blah, blah…. This is my story.

Before Hurricane Katrina hit, they were expecting it to turn in the direction of Florida. Only 2 or 3 days before landfall they realized it was indeed heading right for the northern areas of the Gulf. Evacuation routes were more like parking lots. I lived in a town along an evacuation route and every parking lot, roadside patch of grass, and available room were makeshift shelters. On the day (late August 2005) Katrina hit everyone was glued to the TV, listening to the radio, basically sitting and watching what was happening less then 4 hours south of us. I’ve watched natural disasters on the television before, and there is always a sense of “that’s so far away” which allows you to remove yourself from it. When you are that close to something, when you hear the people outside your window angry and crying as they see people they know, neighborhoods they grew up in, places they worked being washed away, it is a different experience. The few days following Katrina were extremely frustrating. They weren’t sending help. Trucks loaded with supplies were being turned away from the lower Parishes. The few that managed to find a hidden path to the heavier hit areas brought what they could carry down there and came back with whoever they could fit into the truck (it always seemed to be a truck).  FEMA finally arrived and they started opening more areas so people could return, only to then have the announcement that another very large hurricane was setting it’s sights on us!

This time no one was taking chances. Even more people hit the evacuation routes. Many of my neighbors and friends took off as well. I decided to stay. I wasn’t worried. We had enough food to last us for a long time, enough water to get us by, enough gas for my Jeep. If nothing else, I had a sister that lived in Tennessee and could get there if needed. I was on my own with 2 young sons, 2 dogs, and a parakeet. The day before Rita made landfall, my husband called me (he was in the Army and was away for training in Texas), my mom and dad, my mother and father in law, my brother in law, my sister in law and even my sister called me. Yes, we’re fine. Yes, we’re stocked up on food and water. Yes, we’re staying. Yes, I know where the batteries are. Yes, I know where the safest place in the house is. Yes, I have a plan B. Yes, I have cash. Yes, we have everyone’s phone numbers written down. Yes, the bathtub is full of water.. Yes, there is plenty of charcoal to cook on the BBQ. Yes, we have candles and lanterns and flashlights… Sheesh!

All that was left to do was wait. I took the boys into town to do something other then sit around. Walmart was sort of the hub of the town and was only 5 minutes from the house. If you have never seen a giant super Walmart stripped practically bare, let me tell you it’s a surreal experience. The place was packed. Hardly a place to park. The last time I saw the place that busy was the year before when I decided to go to Black Friday to buy bikes for the boys’ Christmas presents. That was the first and last time I ever participated in such a crazy tradition! There was nothing on the shelves worth waiting in the long line to buy, so we spent a couple hours just talking to people. The boys saw a few of their friends, so that was good.

Hurricane Rita made landfall west of where Katrina had touched, so that was good news for the New Orleans area, but not such good news for where I was living. If you are not familiar with hurricanes, there is a “good” side to be on and a “bad” side to be on. Neither side is really ideal. If you are on the “good” side the winds are building, the rain is lessened, the damage tends to be slightly less severe. However, if you are on the “bad” side, the winds are releasing their power, rain is heavier, and the damage tends to be more significant. We happened to be on the “bad” side of Rita.

I grew up on a farm in the Pacific Northwest and had never experienced a hurricane before. The worst I had ever lived through was power outages in the winter, and a couple of minor earthquakes. Actually, some of my fondest childhood memories involve winter days and nights with no power. There is something comforting about hearing the wind howling, snow falling, and a big pot of stew happily bubbling on top of the wood stove.  Life isn’t impossible, or even unpleasant without electronic luxuries. My family raised our own meat, canned/dehydrated/froze our own vegetables, and did all the things preppers, homesteaders, and the like are doing now. It was a way of life I grew up with. My father worked hard for a living wage as a logger. We were not considered rich even in the one-horse town I grew up in. My parents raised animals, took care of the gardens, gathered foods from the forest, hunted , fished, butchered, chopped wood,  made home-made EVERYTHING and managed to somehow keep my sister and I  clothed, fed, and out of jail. I was lucky enough to have had this family lifestyle..

The thing that sticks in my mind the most about Hurricane Rita was how freaking HOT it was! Louisiana in the summertime is bad enough when you have air conditioning, but when the electricity goes out, the full force of the heat and humidity finds it’s way into your bones. There is no escape. Sauna’s are nice to be in for a short time, but you wouldn’t want to live in one. The house we lived in had been built in 1948 and was a solid brick structure. It still had real glass single-pane windows and true hardwood floors. A better building to ride out a hurricane would be hard to find. Over the years previous owners had build additions, as a result there was one room in the center of the house that had no windows and was supported by what was once the outer wall and super solid studs along the other 3 walls. It did have 2 doors, otherwise one would have had to walk the long way to get from one end of the house to another. This was the room in which we were going to be safest. When the winds started to get worrisome, I brought the boys, the dogs and the parakeet into that room and we closed the doors. Then the power went out. The room became more and more unbearable. I opened the doors to hopefully get a little airflow. The house was situated on the down slope of a hill. The winds were coming over the top of the hill, so we were sheltered from the brunt of the force. My husband called about this time. He wanted to make sure we were ok, which we were. The boys were complaining about how hot it was and the dogs were nervously pacing around the house. I brought ice water in the room for the kids and went to look out the windows to see what was going on. Behind our house across the street was a patch of southern pine trees. The trees were bending over almost 90 degrees at times. Quite the sight! I watched a gigantic old oak tree lose ground and fall across the street. I saw debris rolling across the yard, and down the road. I wondered how the neighbors on the top of the hill were doing. Then it got quiet. The dogs wanted outside. I let them into the yard. I let the boys come out and look around. I knew more was coming, but figured it was as good a time as any to relax for a minute.

The winds started again. The rain may have started at this point, but it’s hard to recall as this happened several years ago. I explained what was happening to 2 little faces and a couple of furry ones. They didn’t seem too worried. I heard a loud crack and went to the other end of the house and saw a large branch had come down onto the corner of  our chain-link fence.I watched as the neighbor on that side lost the gutter on the front of his house.  After a bit, it was over. We went outside to see what the damage was. Our house was perfectly fine. The only damage was the fence! The rain had either stopped, or had at least lightened to the point I don’t remember getting wet as people started emerging from their houses to look around. We took an informal head count of the immediate neighbors. All were there. As everyone wandered around the neighborhood word traveled about who had the most damage, what roads were blocked, who we should look after the most, and trading stories about what just happened.There were several roads that were blocked by trees, parts of roofs, and general debris. There is something about experiencing such a thing together that made you get to really know people. No one had power, or running water and the land lines were down. The cell phone towers were overloaded and it was difficult to get calls out to everyone on my list to let them know that, Yes, we were alive.

The hurricane itself was the easy part. It was the week that followed that opened my eyes. As I mentioned before we were stocked and ready for at least 2 weeks of living without outside help. Other’s were not. By the following day, the neighbors had cleared most of the roads, so if you took a certain “squirrel ‘s trail” you could travel around. By that evening the phone lines were working again. I called one of my elderly neighbors that had been mentioned in the “keep an eye on them” list. Thankfully she answered. She was living alone and never kept much food in the house, so she would be out by tomorrow night. She also didn’t have a car, so she had no way of going anywhere before the storm. She lived pay-check to pay-check on the little bit of social security that came to her and would walk to the Walmart on payday and make what she could carry home last until the next time she collected. She was one of those nice little old ladies that would never dream of asking for help. I convinced her that I would bring her some stuff from my freezer the next morning. After all she would be doing me a huge favor in eating food that would otherwise go to waste if the electricity didn’t come back in the next couple of days.

On day 2 after the hurricane I woke to the phone ringing. It was a friend who had left the area calling to see if we were ok and to ask if I could get to her house to check on the damage and to pick up her animals as they would not be able to get back that day as they had originally planned. Her husband was also away at the time and she couldn’t fit all the animals in the vehicle with the kids and their items. I made the boys pancakes on the BBQ using flavored seltzer water instead of regular water. Surprisingly they were some of the tastiest pancakes and I still prefer to make them that way now. I then went through my freezer and took out what was the most thawed, gathered some canned foods, and a few bottles of water and we walked to the neighbors house (I feel bad I cannot recall her name). She was so sweet and happy to have some piece of mind for a couple of days at least. We then took the Jeep and drove through the yard to get to the road in the back of the house (there were still too many trees across the roads for me to get anywhere going out the front as I normally would have). I managed to find a way to my friend’s house. There was one particular area on the way that must have had a target on it, as there were trees all over the place on houses, cars, in the roads etc. They definitely had it worse then our little neighborhood. My friends house had a tree hit the corner of the house, but it didn’t do a large amount of damage. I found her hamster, guinea pig, and parrot all seemingly unaffected. Her cat I could not find, but he did eventually find his way back home once they had come back. The boys stayed in the Jeep while I did this because they were enjoying the air conditioning! Once the animals were settled at my house, I decided to drive with the boys into town to see what was happening and to enjoy more of the AC myself! FEMA had set up a relief center in town prior to Rita. I was actually impressed at how efficient they were. You drove up, popped the back, they put in a box, closed your door and off you go. No questions asked.

The box had some food, water and a bag of ice. NICE! I moved what food was still in the fridge into a cooler with the ice. It’s amazing how fast food spoils in the heat! If it was winter, it would have lasted longer, but not in that kind of heat.

Late morning on day 3 the water came back. On the radio they were repeatedly telling everyone NOT to drink the water. The radio was the only link to what was going on outside of the immediate area. There were crews coming from all over the US to help with clearing, repairs, electricity and whatever other help they could bring/offer. These people were generously welcomed and lifted the spirits of so many! I cannot recall the names of the 2 DJ’s that stayed on air 24/7 for almost 2 weeks entertaining and informing those who had radios. They made you laugh! Callers would be on air telling what was going on in different parts of the area. I hope they realize what they meant to everyone.

WATER!! Even though you couldn’t drink it, it was great to be able to take a cold shower, fill a little kiddie pool and let the kids cool off. Drinking warm, stale water sucks, but it does keep you alive. I didn’t take into account how much water one consumes in warm weather. I had figured the 3 of us could easily go 2 weeks on the water we had, but I was wrong. Even the dogs lapped up 4 times what I had calculated. Thoughts started creeping into my mind:. When you begin to worry about about survival of your children, the mind can turn to awful things. Even tough we were in no immediate danger, the “what if” scenarios can really make you think.  I drove the boys into town  that afternoon to go through the FEMA line again. I gave the items to the neighbor lady this time. My father-in-law called me and he suggested I try and get to one of the bigger cities to the north that had electricity and he was going to wire money. We would have been fine without the money, but he needed to “help” his family somehow and that’s what he could do from California. My friend called and said they’d be back late that night. I had to tell her the guinea pig didn’t make it as it had died in the night. Not the best news to have to deliver. My husband called, my mom called, my friend from back home called… Yes, we are fine. Yes, we are trying to stay cool. Yes, we have plenty of food (canned anyway, the perishable items were going bad and the food I had moved from the chest freezer into a leaky cooler was almost completely thawed)… My friend came over that night and picked up her animals.

The morning of day 4 we drove into a bigger city to the north. What would have normally been a 1 hour drive took closer to 3 hours. I picked up the money my father-in-law had wired and we slowly navigated through a very crowded town. I manged to find a few blocks of ice and put them in the cooler I had brought. Treated the boys to McDonalds (ICE CREAM!!), bought a couple cases of water,  and filled the gas tank. The town was picked over, so there wasn’t much else to see. I did see a big group of utility trucks from out of state in a field. That’s a good sign. When we got back home I took some of the ice to the neighbor lady. She didn’t have much  to keep cool, so she insisted I bring it to another neighbor. The next door neighbor and his wife accepted the ice and told me to watch out because the looting has started. They had reports of houses a couple of streets over had been broken into and that they heard someone in their back yard the night before. Luckily I have 2 dogs and because it was too hot to sleep in our beds we had been sleeping on the floor by the back screen door. One dog slept just outside the screen door and other slept on the floor next to us. The one that slept outside chose to himself. I think it was because he had a thick coat and it was cooler. Otherwise he would have been in the house if the air conditioner was working! My friend came over and the kids spent the afternoon splashing in the little pool. The food that was left in the freezer was to the point of either cook it, or toss it. I chose to cook it. We invited anyone who wanted to join in the feast to come over and we had a grand party! Shrimp, fish, steak, chicken, pork… you name it! Neighbors brought their appetites along with food they needed to have eaten. There was hardly a scrap left! The biggest topic of conversation was how frustrated the out-of-state people who came to help with the power were. The Parishes were taking too long “planning” how to do it instead of just “doing it like any other district would have done.”  The neighbors were remembering how long it took for the federal help with Katrina to get to the people. “Are they doing that to us too?” “F-N government bull shit!” I think the conversation that night really hit me, as it was one of the catalysts that inspired Billfree Farms. If you think help is going to get to you in time, you may be wrong. If you happen to live in one of the “less important” areas of the country, you may  never see relief. What if the disaster was bigger then just your area? What if there was no one in a position better than you?

Day 5 was fairly uneventful. My friend’s husband came home from training and he spent the day over at my house with us watching the kids splash and play. I drove through the FEMA line again. We heard that they had electricity restored on the military post, so we knew it wouldn’t be too much longer for us.

On day 6 my husband made it back from training and brought a generator from one of the guys in his unit that had electricity back already. It was a nice gesture, but we had no reason to run the fridge and the air conditioner would probably have destroyed the generator. He hooked it up anyway and I really don’t recall what he used it to run. He was helpful (<- snarky comment). He was glad we were ok, then went into a long list of things I should have done, or what he would have done differently. Hmmm….it’s a wonder we are now divorced!

The evening of day 7 the power came back on. Air conditioner you are my favorite appliance!!! I think I prefer the winter. Cold I can deal with. Heat? Not so much!

In the days after the electricity came back things slowly got back to normal. I started a weekly shopping trip for the neighbor lady. She would give me her list and I would pick things up for her, plus a couple extra items for her to “stash”. We received some funds to replace the food we had lost. I refused to claim more then what we actually lost (even if we were heavily “encouraged”) because I know that money was needed by others more. Today I carry water in every vehicle I own. I’m thankful that we were not hurt, or suffered any other type of damage. I’m glad I grew up the way I did and it was natural to have extra food around.

I’ve had a few long years with the lessons learned mulling around in the back of my head. I am now 43 years old and retirement has been on my mind more and more. What am I going to do? Am I going to be able to retire? Am I going to become like the neighbor lady, scraping by pay-check to pay-check by myself? The original plan was to live off my husband’s military retirement and social security. As I mentioned before, we are now divorced and I’m not 100% convinced the social security will be active by the time I get around to retirement. The world may very well be a much different place. Rather then planning for a major disaster that may or may not come, I’m planning for a relatively bill-free retirement that I will hopefully live to see. Being debt-free is much different then being bill-free. I had bought 4 acres of land back in 1995. During the ugly divorce I had to borrow against the paid-off chunk of dirt that I am currently repaying. Someday I will own it free and clear once more. That should happen in 2024. I’ve been planning what I think would make a feasible solution to retirement. If I start now, it may just happen.

And so it begins…