Like all self-respecting country people from Mora County, my family spent many a day (and night) without electricity over the years. Blackouts were common during cold and snowy winters, and not out of the question during the lightning storms of summer.

Dealing with an emergency is commonplace for rural people, and one of the first lessons anyone moving to the country learns is this — be ready for the extremes of weather. My dad would cover our well pump pipes with heat tape, and for extra protection had a light burning in the well house on the most frigid days. Inside the house, we had lanterns and oil ready to fire up when the lights went. With a stocked pantry, plenty of wood chopped and a seldom-less-than-half-full propane tank, my folks could get by for weeks.

Such extremes seem another lifetime away — when I chose to move to the city, one reason was convenience. I like comfortable rooms, plenty of hot water and few random power outages. Even so, when the natural gas was cut off to friends and relatives up north earlier this month, our family turned down the heat and stayed in the living room by the fireplace. For Santa Fe, this gas shortage was merely an inconvenience, and it was our duty to help out.

Over the next few days, I talked to friends by phone and over Facebook about what was happening in Taos and Española, two places hard hit by New Mexico Gas Co.'s decision to cut service in order to keep the system operating. Rural people, as is often the case, had moved into survival mode. My mother-in-law in Taos shifted operations into her big room where a pellet stove provided warmth, using its top to cook soup and eggs. Other friends warmed water in the microwave for spit baths or to wash their hair. Many didn't have water to warm because their pipes had frozen, and the thaw to come was another impending disaster.

Whether your town was affected a lot, or not at all, New Mexicans couldn't help but grow angry as the re-lighting process stretched from one day into several, leaving some people without heat for nearly a week.

Whatever caused the shortage, the re-light was an unmitigated disaster. Whether in refusing Gov. Susana Martínez's offers of extra help, not getting better directions for their out-of-town crews, or failing to bring in licensed plumbers from the beginning, New Mexico Gas Co.'s inept response turned what could have been a mini-crisis into an out-and-out disaster. Small businesses, in particular, are going to be feeling the aftershock of this mess for months to come.

The wait got so bad that some folks in Taos finally decided to turn their gas back on themselves, tapping in, once again, to that rural, can-do spirit. They refused to go cold into the second storm of the month.

Now, with the heat back on, it's time to assess what we have learned.

The first big lesson? Gov. Susana Martínez, I'll wager, won't be as polite or trusting next time there's a disaster (letting the gas company decline National Guard assistance, for example). In a state of emergency, Gov. Martínez gets to push people around, and as she lost her temper in the waning days of no-gas, it's clear to see she has learned that lesson.

Further, all parties in an emergency should think beyond the obvious. No call system to alert gas customers? Tap into public school or media alert systems and send texts or automated phone calls over existing systems. Spread the news far and wide — quickly. Poor communication hampered efforts throughout this shortage. That's something we can work on immediately. (The gas company, alas, didn't learn its communications lesson — officials didn't show up for a meeting with customers last week.)

A long-term lesson for individuals? Get a second source of heat! Our fireplace isn't as good as a wood stove, but it kept us warm enough when Santa Fe residents were asked to conserve. You can bet my family is looking around to see where we might add a stove — just in case. The biggest lesson, of course, is when we can't depend on our utility companies or our government to act decisively in a crisis, we must be ready to take care of ourselves.

Send your comments to inezrussell@msn.com.