Just half an hour of “engine time” this evening gave us almost an hour of transformative flying. We cruised slowly along the 101 toward Carpinteria, then climbed offshore for a look at the oil platforms. For some reason it’s been quite a while since we looked at them. Usually we’re over the water along the shoreline, or climbing much higher going over to the islands.
7095 Oil Platform
The shimmering seas remind me of that old TV series “Victory At Sea.”
Then we climbed over Carp toward the Santa Ynez range, deciding whether to cruise West up the valley.
7098 Hazy Hills
A glance at the haze helped us choose a gliding descent back toward the Santa Barbara Harbor. At about Butterfly Beach or so I snapped the surf lineup waiting for the next set.
7100 Sunset Surfing
I like how the sand has been stirred into dirty puffs by the larger waves they’re waiting to ride. Sometimes clouds over the Salton Sea look like this, as if this were a view of the sky.
John & Anne Wiley 
With the Gulf Oil spill so active now, I couldn’t help but think how innocent this oil platform looked from above, but what havoc it could wreak upon our sweet beaches. I’m reminded that some years before we moved here, there was a huge oil disaster that led to many new regulations that have made oil drilling safer. These don’t go near as deep as the Gulf ones do thankfully.
I loved the mountain ridges in the haze, was mesmerizing.
We feel ‘flown’ 🙂
Comment by Anne Wiley — 2010/06/19 @ 06:15