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Silver Lining

Garrison Keillor finds some things to look forward to as gas prices cross $4 a gallon and show no signs of coming down.

So when gas passes five dollars and heads for eight and 10, we will learn to sit in dim light with our loved ones and talk about hunting and fishing adventures, about war and romance and times of consummate foolishness when we threw caution to the wind and flung ourselves over the Cliffs of Desire and did not land on the Sharp Rocks of Regret.

I'll tell you about the motor home trip and how lovely it was, cruising the prairie at night and drinking beer, stopping by a little creek and grilling fish on a Coleman stove, listening to coyotes. The vanishing of the RV only makes your story more interesting. One thing lost, something else gained. Life is like that.

I am looking forward to a compressed work-week and/or telecommuting as a matter of course rather than an occasional privilege. If people start working from home in large numbers, chances are that the daycare business will suffer. The local farm stand will be able to compete against much larger grocery chains and even beat their prices when the transportation becomes the biggest component of cost. While the negatives from high gas prices are too numerous to count, in some ways it is as Keillor points out "One thing lost, something else gained. Life is like that."

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