Sunset -- sharing the sky

Sunset over Lake Pontchartrain as we start our 24-mile journey back across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. I am every time amazed in the variety of sunsets -- no two are alike. We love to roll down the top of Linda's convertible and enjoy the breeze (of course down here, we usually have our air conditioning on, too).

Night gives fair warning of its coming and, for a time, the dark and light share the sky. As we approach the other side, New Orleans rises in the sky, ornamenting it with nightlights of the Crescent City Connection bridge and the light-sprinkled skyscrape of downtown.

-- steve buser

Pipe laying on the Energy Coast

Pipelines? You want pipelines? We've got 'em. This one is going right down the middle of Lake Pontchartrain. I captured this photo of a pipeline laying barge as we were heading across the Causeway one day. Don't worry, my wife was driving while I fiddled with my camera.

Inside the buildings on the raft, new sections of pipe are added and welded while the pipe is pushed out to the bottom of the lake (typically about 14 feet deep. You can see the water bubbling up from where the channel for the pipeline is being dug to hold it.

Why so many pipelines? Because this is the Energy coast, that imports and drills a large portion of our country's energy needs. Pipelines, it turns out, are one of the most efficient ways to move product. I dare say, this area ships more product underground that most areas its size ship overground.

-- steve buser

Hurricanes Ike and Gustav show what we depend on

I made a quick trip over to Beaumont, TX this week to check on my son, Shawn, who had a tree through his roof from Hurricane Ike. This sign reminded me of our return from Hurricane Gustav a few weeks ago. Staple were hard to come by. I remember going into the local grocery store to pickup bread, milk and eggs. There were no eggs. I got the second to last loaf of bread. I had to settle for whole milk, the only kind they had.

It is after disasters like this, that we learn how we depended on businesses and government to provide us with a comfortable way of life. Things can change dramatically in just a few hours.

Oh, by the way, things in Beaumont seemed to be getting back to normal quickly.

-- steve buser