John & Anne Wiley

2011/08/05

The Croc

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:03

So I sent some pix of our Anacapa flight to Edhat, and then found this snap of the crocodile that I like better.

2636 Anacapa Island Croc

2636 Anacapa Island Croc

In case you don’t get my name for it, to me this looks like a giant crocodile. The camera was overexposing most of the wide shots like this for some reason, so it’s lucky I’d set it to underexpose by .7 stop. Anyway, after some tweaking in Pshop this one came out not too far from what we saw. Snaps of the beaches and caves came out better.

2539 Quiet Beach

2539 Quiet Beach

There are so many beaches and caves to explore when the sea is calm, but it’s often quite different on the North and South sides of the island. It can also change quickly, and then you could have a challenging time getting to shelter. On a day like this though, it sure looks inviting.

2541 Faux Monolith

2541 Faux Monolith

I like this pic, because the slice of sunlight hitting a sliver of the cliff base creates the effect of a rock monolith standing alone on the beach. When I first looked at this pic, it was fun to imagine ancient peoples carving and setting a stone sentry there that has survived a century or more. In this next pic you can better see the overexposure problem, but I like how the shot puts the lighthouse in perspective.

2584 Anacapa Light

2584 Anacapa Light

If you click it to see the full-size version, you can probably make out the buildings in the center of the shot. Also the white concrete that was probably for collecting rainwater into a cistern, and now appears to be used for storing trash between visits from the tender boat. Here’s a closer view of the lighthouse that evokes impressions of ferocious storms pounding the rocks, and furious gales blowing across the light. Maybe a disconsolate maiden bereft of her beloved lost at sea, contemplating a leap.

2588 Anacapa Light

2588 Anacapa Light

OK, over the top, so to speak. But here’s a last snap in an attempt at my redemption.

2605 Inner Light

2605 Inner Light

Maybe it doesn’t show in this pic, but there’s a luminous quality to the water in the shadows inside the cave mouths. They are lit from within, as if inviting us to a mermaid gathering.

2011/08/04

Oil & Water

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 00:38

Preparing this photo I heard a loud sizzle a moment ago, when Anne put some water in a pan with hot oil (she’s fine). Got me thinking about the ways oil and water get along – or not. It seems to me there are many more offshore oil platforms in our channel than when we moved here 20-ish years ago. I do like the colorful lights on chilly winter nights, and it’s interesting to fly over them like this.

2643 Offshore Oil Platform

2643 Offshore Oil Platform

One of my various “careers” was a Summer diamond drilling job on a Yukon mountaintop, and this reminds me of it a little. I wonder what it’s like for the crew to live out there for a shift. Unlike my mountain drilling though, they can see the city lights. It’s been years since I’ve seen the poetry I wrote up on the mountain, and maybe this will motivate me to look for it. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy all the action in this snap as I do.

2011/08/02

Scratched

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:41

When we don’t fly for a few days, we get itchy feathers. Even though we flew Friday, today was so clear that at 2pm or so we decided to fly again. Of course, by the time we got airborne it was 4pm but we decided to go out for a look at Anacapa Island before it gets completely dried out. Too late for that, it turns out, but we saw such beautiful vistas! But before I start posting those, I wanted to share a different angle on the Edhat item I mentioned yesterday. I thought it was landscaping and a new driveway being added to an estate, but from the North side it looks like a whole new mansion is going in.

2694 Earthmoving

2694 Earthmoving

Judging by the vacant slope shown on the satellite image of this spot, having homes and presumably wildfire-resistant landscaping there will probably be popular with neighbors. I enjoy looking at big construction projects like this, probably for the same reasons I used to like playing with earthmover toys as a kid. I also enjoy looking at how people with more money than I, spend it on their castles. SB is home to some of the most spectacular and beautiful estates in North America, so that aspect makes flying here even more fun. But tomorrow maybe I’ll post some aerials of the even more spectacular scenery we relished today.

2011/08/01

Hugette’s Quiet Courtyard

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 21:56

I had an aunt with a mansion in Hollywood, and for some reason the quiet mood and smell of stillness is evoked when I look at aerials like this of the Hugette Clark mansion near the bird refuge.

2426 Hugette's Sheltered Pond

2426 Hugette's Sheltered Pond

The whole place accurately conveys the impression of having been frozen in time many decades ago. It’s been kept in good condition by the caretakers even though Hugette never made it back to her childhood playground. With her recent passing I seem to glance at (and snap) it more often when we fly past. Every time, it brings back that mood and smell of my aunt’s mansion of similar vintage. Maybe some day soon it will be opened to the public, and we can pause to gaze on the reflecting pond contemplating past, present, and future.

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