Boom ~ Blog 44

Note the police boats, of which I see at least three, sailing around this
natural gas tanker in Boston's harbor. Our house is about a half mile
from this ship's location, at the bottom of the picture.

The Wife and I went for a walk with Daisy Duke on New Year's day. At the end of the harbor walk, a quarter mile away from an open, grassy stretch, I could see a police SUV with its lights on. This meant I would have to put Daisy Duke on a leash.

As we got closer to the end of the walk, the SUV took off at a high rate of speed. Then I noticed the police boats. There were two helicopters buzzing around slowly overhead. On the other side of the harbor, I could see two more police cruisers running around with their lights on.

Then I saw the front end of the big ship that was moving through the harbor. I recognized it instantly from this PBS show about liquified natural gas arriving in Boston. If you have five minutes to kill, check it out. This natural gas place is a couple miles from us, as the crow flies.

There's good reason for the police presence. As it turns out, a rogue grenade launcher could set off an explosion that causes second degree burns anywhere within a half mile of the ship. These are what have been called "Boat Bombs." That's the least that could happen. Boston's mayor has sued to try to keep the boats out of our harbor and lost. There's really no way to be totally sure someone bent on a suicidal attack won't set off a really big bomb near my house. It's not like this is out of the realm of possibility. Two rocket launchers were turned in at a Los Angeles gun buyback last week. That's not comforting.

But this isn't about that. There's risk everywhere. I get that. Somebody could take out a gasoline truck in Minneapolis or start firing guns at a University of Utah football game. There's nothing stopping them. I could tell you about the scale of the explosion from a liquified natural gas boat blowing up in the harbor, but suffice to say, I think it would be pretty bad news.

I spend a lot of time on my couch, not worrying about the fact that I live in a potential terrorism target. The oldest boat in the U.S. Navy lives about a mile from us. On the Fourth of July, police take over the harbor as the USS Constitution floats out to sea for its annual turnaround trip. We have tunnels. We have an airport next door.

Thankfully, I'm distracted by everyday life. Chances are greater I'll get into a car accident and die on my way to work than by an act of terrorism. You can reason it away. But still, as a police helicopter and Coast Guard helicopter hover overhead, making sure you don't suddenly pull out a rocket launcher, there's at least a little reason for pause. We don't live in Maine anymore.