A friend who is a West Virginia native recently photographed a section of natural gas pipeline he saw during a visit to a place he'd always known for its natural beauty.

The photo shows a partially completed 42" pipeline section after storms had dumped excessive rain on the site.  Where there had been majestic trees that held the soil together there was now a muddy 125-foot-wide trench filled with water and debris.  

News items continue to reflect unrest among people living in the path of such pipelines, the concerns of ecologists, and the countering proclamations about building for future energy needs and creating jobs.  As with  many issues in our culture these days, we seem hard pressed to discover truth between the lines of rhetoric either pro or con.

One thing seems clear from the photo: if you live in the pipeline's path, your world, and your life, will definitely be uprooted.  That's what "Pipeline: A Novel" is all about.