At noon in the parking lot of a local grocery last week I heard a low flying airplane roaring westward.

This startled me. If it was landing or taking off from Sea-Tac, a plane should be flying north or south. Maybe it was lost in the fog.

Or maybe Port officials had quietly slipped a fourth runway under our noses.

It would not surprise me. The Port has always done what it wants, whenever it wants. I mentioned this to a friend, Guy Harper, who lives in Gregory Heights.

He said unless that noisy plane turned, it would fly directly over the top of his house. And over Three Tree Point, where I've lived for nearly 30 years.

At one time, Metro had a plan to burrow under Lake Burien for a sewer outfall line from Renton until indignant Highline citizens like Ken Smith and Vivian Matthews raised such uproar the idea was abandoned.

It is my understanding that originally the Port had visions of six runways crossing SeaTac like strips of bacon.

Back in the 80s, this newspaper ran a cartoon showing the chairman of the Port driving a huge bulldozer, gleefully pushing Burien into Puget Sound off Three Tree Point. They may still have three more on their drawing board.

Last week I got an e-mail from Mr. Harper. He wrote, "I had not heard of a fourth runway covering Three Tree Point. Will this be built by covering your house or off to one side? Will the noise bother you at all?

"It is going to be very tricky for pilots to make that turn around the point if the plane is going very fast. Keep me informed as we should have a great view from up here on Gregory Heights."

I answered him: "Dear Guy, I hope it is not going to be too noisy. When they build the runway the lighthouse on the tip of Three Tree will most likely stay, in case of fog.

"The bench on the south beach where some locals sit while fishing at high tide is so comfy it might become a men-only comfort station.

"I suppose they will have a sea lion patrol as they will have to protect those lions from planes landing, and clam-diggers will likely mussel in for a few shovelfuls of disgust. Crab drivers will line up for sure, and a branch of rabbit transit will be vital."

Then I really got rolling" "You can count on a lot of belly-aching from Vashon Islanders until a suspension bridge is built," I told Guy.

"Beats digging a tunnel under Burien from Southcenter to the old convenience store on the Point where your wife used to buy Popsicles when she was a kid.

"Maybe they can sell tickets to you hillbillies up on Gregory Heights. I know you urchins can kelp out and raise a few clams."

I hope he got my drift.