All-time records with oil and gas...National stories play out with local flavor and getting the local stories is a move away from mass media homogeneity that is making us locavores in more ways than gastronomically. So eating up localization on heavenly matters, crude and light in today's ramble:
Gas prices hit a record high today, and oil prices for sweet light crude soared over $109/bbl. Meanwhile, Santa Fe merchants are hoping the oil flush Texans will come over spring breaks this month and save the local economy. The oil boom is humming, just like in the old days. Texas is going for the boom big time; New Mexico is being very cautious for environmental reasons.
Dallas is one of the cities with the least home depreciation and one of the top three cities to have an influx of population last year. With two daughters in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I'm traversing back and forth. The economy there is still humming at a healthy pace, or at least it was when I was there a few weeks ago. I caught this Church of God van from Borger, Texas filling up in Amarillo. Will we amble amble and ramble more locally, as this van is doing, with tourists cutting back on travel as gas prices are expected to continue to soar to perhaps a spike as high as $3.75/gallon? Drilling is going on all around the DFW area. Fort Worth's city council voted to allow drilling for mineral rights beneath ten city parks. The city gets a percent of the royalties and has already drawn in thousands of dollars for park improvements. Dallas, Ft. Worth and Oklahoma City have cranes poking up in the skyline and new buildings rising everywhere.
While the newspaper in Santa Fe keeps us posted on the cautious, anti-drilling stance of local citizens opposed to drilling in New Mexico's Galisteo Basin, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reported on 2/22 a story from Watauga about how police on the Denton Highway couldn't find Jesus. Oh Lordy, strong local reporting will be the bane of surviving media and the color of our niched news. You gotta love it.
Thou Shall Not Pollute the Earth.... The Vatican listed new sins this week, including pollution, at the same time that I noted that we have an 11th commandment to turn off cell phones in certain places (via the Episcopal Church bulletin in Santa Fe).
So here's The Jesus on the Highway story, as reported by Domingo Ramirez, Jr., from Ft. Worth. Keep readin' for this local story of interest...from Texas.
Under the title, Religious Statue Seen on Highway, the story:
Police couldn't find Jesus on Denton Highway last Saturday afternoon. A Wautuga dispatcher driving to work reported a pink and brown 3-foot plastic Jesus figurine was in the middle of the highway, just in front of Harvest Church. But officers failed to find the Son of God.
The figure might have been one of the kneeling wise men from a nativity scene, the dispatcher said. Someone must have picked him up before police arrived.
Oil, Gas and God...Amen, Cheers.
I've always thought it was sinful to trash our earth. With the price of oil, we'll be forced to find more green alternatives - in every area of our lives. Maybe folks will find Jesus along the way, too! :)
Posted by: allison | March 11, 2008 at 12:36 PM