Edwin says we're like frogs in a pot of boiling water in regard to gas prices. The prices go up, up, slowly up. When they drop a few cents, we sigh with relief and brace ourselves for the next big hit.
Well, brace yourself, 'cause the prices are going up again. Corrosion in the pipeline at Prudhoe Bay has shut down the Alaskan Pipeline, supplier of 8% of America's crude oil. If you're interested in the whole story, check out CNN, or just wait. You'll probably be bombarded with this story on local and national news throughout the day.
The pipeline was big news in a Alaska when I was a child. Men moved north for months to work on building the 800-mile long tube. It brought hope and riches to our great state. I remember standing by a cross-section of the pipe in the State Museum in Juneau (nowhere near the pipeline) and marveling at its size. I remember standing beside the long tube and thinking that it didn't seem quite as huge in person, just really long. And I remember looking at it from the air and noting what a tiny vessel it is against the vast Alaskan frontier.
The feats of man, incredible though they are, pale in comparison to God's wonders. The pipeline was built in my living memory and it's already corroding away. It will take some shoring up, some cleaning and scouring to get it back on track. Meanwhile, the caribou still graze alongside it. Denali still looms over it. Mosquitoes still butt against it.
And we sit in our nice warm bath of water, barely noticing the temperature change.
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