Rockin’ a Hard Place: War and high gas prices have brought us closer to America

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 15, 2026

We Rock dwellers treasure our distance from America and all its problems — traffic, noise, high prices, crowds, etc. The lack of all that gives us a sense of gratitude for how this island protects us.

Lately, however, I have been noticing that the distance seems to have narrowed. And unfortunateIy I must blame it on the war in Iran and the high price of gasoline.

The other day I filled my car’s tank at the Safeway gas station in Oak Harbor. And even with a two-point reduction in the price per gallon, thanks to all that food I bought recently at Safeway, the total cost was $47.50. Yikes! I immediately pondered if my Rock friends were also suffering from gasoline at $5 a gallon.

I live on Central Whidbey and for most of us our “club house” is the Prairie Center Market. It’s virtually impossible to go there and not bump in to one, two, three of more acquaintances. And that of course requires a brief catch-up conversation.

So, after my recent horrifying experience filling my gas tank in Oak Harbor, I had at least four conversations at the Prairie Center Markets with others who had similar troubles.

One friend confided that he had recently given up a part-time job that required him to drive to Langley several times a week. At $5 a gallon, the cost to drive there and come back home reduced what he could earn and therefore it made the job no longer worth it.

Another friend works at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and he was worried because some of the big Growler jets stationed there had been sent off to the Middle East, where they are likely to be flying over Iran these days. It’s one thing to practice touch-and-go training at the Outlying Field in Coupeville. It’s quite another to swoop in low over Tehran.

I chatted with another friend who bemoaned with me the fact that the high price of gasoline was limiting one of the best-loved adventures of us Rock dwellers: taking a drive around the island just for the fun of it, with no particular end point in mind.

How many times, we reminisced, did we meander down Monroe Landing Road to Scenic Heights, then cruise slowly past some beautiful houses into Oak Harbor? Or how many times did we turn off the highway in Freeland so we could take Saratoga Road through forests, wetlands and more beautiful houses into Langley? Or how many times did we take Maxwelton so we could drive up Swede Hill? I forget how many other similar trips we mentioned.

I have also noticed that traffic on our Rock has definitely increased over the past year or so. Of course quite a bit of it is caused by tourists from America stopping by for a taste of Whidbey, apparently not worried about expensive gasoline. And some of them come with their giant RVs to spend a night or two at one of our gorgeous state parks. I usually get behind one that wants to do 35 mph in our 50 mph zones.

So, war and high gas prices have definitely narrowed our distance from America. For me and all of us, I can hardly wait for peace and gas at $2.50 a gallon.

Harry Anderson is a retired journalist who worked at the Los Angeles Times and now lives on Central Whidbey.