John & Anne Wiley

2010/08/24

Shadows On The Land

There is magic for me, in revisiting another hop on our NxNW Adventure each day. Tonight I’m moved again by snapshots of the landscape passing serenely beneath our wings across Manitoba. The clouds we were navigating between cast enchanted shapes across the fields.

0087 Shadow Shapes

0087 Shadow Shapes

I see also the transient shapes traced by a meandering stream and by shallow creeks. Centuries of land use tell their stories, with the most recent chapters on top. Trees and other life planted or wild are slow dancing with structures, paths and roads. All of these things pass quickly in earth time, just more fleeting shadows gone forever, never seen by some future eye. Only in this brief moment of passage from this particular angle did a finger push a button to create this pale reminder. I was here.

Exploring around our hotel in Winnipeg that night of July 30th, the moon cast a shadow of our passing and complemented the city lights.

0055 Moo Moon

0055 Moo Moon

Walking “home” after our fun meal and a brief wander in the blinding fluorescent lights of a supermarket to find Anne’s new fav yogurt, we paused to admire the fresh concrete curb outside a new mall being built. Vandals left a mark. A vain attempt to cast a longer shadow perhaps? Was it rubbed out in the morning, will it survive a few years until eroded by the severe seasons, or might it last a decade or more before being crushed to dust making way for something new?

0057 Curb Enthusiasm

0057 Curb Enthusiasm

We See UC

Yesterday we finally went for a short flight, but aside from some local interest pix I sent to Edhat this was the best photo we got.

0916 UCSB Gate

0916 UCSB Gate

Such an incredibly beautiful setting for a university, eh?! It’s impossible to really capture the beauty, representing SB’s setting so well as it does. Mountains, ocean, wetland, and all the myriad human attractions ranging from arts and sciences to humanities and (one of my personal favs) education. This town of 150k or so boasts a dozen or so renowned higher education centers, with UCSB standing as a prime example. Can you tell I love living here? Especially when I get to fly! 🙂

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