A cairn is a small stack of stones a hiker leaves on a trail to guide the next person through a confusing stretch. This site is a collection of cairns for the harder stretches of ordinary life — the kind of situation that arrives without warning and that nobody quite told you what to do about. The first hour of a power outage, for example. There will be more.

Each one is written to be read cold, by someone who has never heard of us, in the middle of the situation it's about. They're free. Print them, forward them, tape them to a fridge. They're meant to stay that way.

• Infrastructure

  The First Hour of a Power Outage

  What to do in the first hour after the power goes out, before you know whether it will last one hour or two days.