John & Anne Wiley

2012/01/06

Choices

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 05:55

We asked a loved one what he most enjoyed about living where he does, and he paused for a long moment. “The cost of living,” was his eventual reply. Great reason for choosing that spot!  We often think about how high the cost of housing is here in SB, and how that impacts our meager lifestyle. Yet we have not had even the slightest doubt about our choice, since moving here almost 20 years ago. Worth it, to us.

1000004 Sunset

1000004 Sunset

Case in point, on our evening walk under this sunset we picked some fruit to complement these locally grown organic heirloom tomatoes we got at the farmer’s market.

8951 Still Life

8951 Still Life

I didn’t take time to set up and light the shot, but it still reminds me of still life art I’ve enjoyed. One my Aunt painted in particular, that hung in our home during my childhood. It also reminds me of what we did today. Choosing to live in a modest home and drive a car old enough to vote so we can (barely) afford to buy Tripp enabled us to take a short flight along the coast and see these surfers enjoying the thing that probably factored large in their choice to live here.

8996 Warm Waves

8996 Warm Waves

Having lived in -40F winters, I appreciate the many things that move people to live elsewhere. I also appreciate, perhaps more keenly than most, the joy of living Here. 🙂

 

2012/01/04

Another Look

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 21:44

I was taking another look at our pix from last year a few daze ago (12/31/11), and thought you might enjoy this one as I did.

8937 Last Rays

8937 Last Rays

The last rays of the last day of 2011 were beautiful for us. Reflective of the year, but also of childhood. Standing on a wide, flat beach as the foam slid sizzling toward our feet and we turned squealing to run away. I see that surge of foam in the fog line angling down from the right, about to wash over Oxnard. Anacapa Island beneath the sun seems much smaller than our many memories of flying over and around it. sigh…

Life unfolds in mystery, and slowly we learn, only to forget again as the years wash ashore.

2012/01/03

Shuffle

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 09:39

New Year’s Day we did a shuffle, and for the second we did a walk. The shuffle was driving over to Santa Ynez, leaving the car and flying Tripp home to SBA just ahead of the late afternoon fog. The familiar shapes of Bradbury Dam looked tranquil in the lengthening shadows.

1020001 Bradbury Shapes

1020001 Bradbury Shapes

If you have Anne’s keen eye for detail, you’ve noticed yet another numbering scheme on this set of pix. We got a cheapo videocam in SD, and somehow both forgot our cameras so we had only that along with us on the short flight. I’m undecided whether to keep it past the trial period due to the marginal quality of video and stills, but it could be cool to have aerial video from some of our adventures. These stills of Cachuma Lake are ok for here or Edhat, but might not meet my standards for the Photo Page. Of course, we’d normally have better still cameras along, but the video quality is marginal too. Maybe the “flybucks” saved on the cheapo camera would make it worth more hassle editing and improving any video we use.  This wider shot better shows the poor lens quality, in all the haze and washed out sky.

1020003 Cachuma Head

1020003 Cachuma Head

This still has already been corrected some, and doing even this amount on video takes more time and effort. At least the lake was relaxing and beautiful to look at, and even these pix take us back to the magical ride home to slip Tripp into her home base just before the foggy sunset.

1020002 Up Lake

1020002 Up Lake

To celebrate our second day of 2012, we went for a walk. Pretty pedestrian perhaps, but it felt wonderful to catch up on some chores around home, sleep in, vege out in front of TV, and catch up with cyberia (email & web). Well, except for sharing these pix before the clock struck twelve. Tomorrow maybe we’ll get more active again, and start practicing saying and writing 2012. For some reason the change is taking longer to feel real this year.

2012/01/01

Goodbye ’11

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 06:03

Approaching familiar SBA we imagined a dusk landing and a cozy dinner at home to bid farewell to 2011. Instead, this odd numbered year provided some last odd gifts. First was this sunset over the Channel Islands as we passed Ventura.

8940 '11 Hangover

8940 '11 Hangover

The overhanging cloud was an odd color that gave me a brief sense of foreboding as if 2011 had a hangover. Do you see the freckled fog on the ocean in the above shot? Here’s another look, back toward Port Hueneme with better light because the camera’s not overloaded by the sunset rays.

8948 Oxnard Blanket

8948 Oxnard Blanket

Well, that fog was thicker at SBA so ’11 gave us another odd surprise by preventing our landing. So we diverted to Santa Ynez where the quiet airport greeted us with clear skies dotted with the first stars of the year’s last night. A great friend drove over to bring us home, after we cruised the lights in festive Solvang. Tomorrow we’ll drive over to bring Tripp home once the fog burns off, and hopefully our friend will join me for the short flight while Anne brings the car back. I’m excited to see what ’12 looks like! So far it’s shaping up to be a Perfect Dozen year. May ’12 be your fave year so far, overflowing with welcome surprises and joyful closeness.

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