A philosopher who spoke in Anne’s “MSM” series once said something along the lines of this: “Our highest purpose in life is to fully enjoy it.” That struck me at the time as tending toward self-indulgence, but my opinion has shifted. Now I see it as a call to a complex challenge. To become ever more conscious of the beauty all around and within us, and to expand that awareness by stretching our envelope. On the ground, I sometimes wonder if the rare luxury of flight can be justified by sharing it with all who share our passion. I don’t seem to ponder it at all while stretching my envelope of conscious joy with sights like this.
1043 Tucker Trail
At the end of Turnpike near where Anne used to work, is a park with a trail that goes up into the mountains. We’ve walked it many times between the park and Hwy.154 that runs across the pic at the bottom of the golden brown stripe of dry grass. The trail starts just off the bottom-left edge of the pic and is in the green stripe running up the middle to the mountains. Walking there feels like being in the woods, even tho as you can see there are houses on both sides. SB has several trails like this, and we’ve enjoyed many of them both on the ground and from the air. Just looking at the pic triggered a deep breath just now. 🙂
1050 Break Water
A couple of miles away across town, the breakwater breaks the waters between the harbor and the open channel. Off to the left is the end of the popular sidewalk from the harbor. I guess people scramble along the rocks from there to reach this area near the tip for paddleboarding and kayaking. Translucent turquoise water like this never ceases its enchantments for me. Maybe the contrast between these first two pix is part of the conscious stretching process of flying for me. To deliciously Be in one place, and a minute or two later Be in a completely different place.
1094 Books ‘n Beets
We often stop by the Goleta Library (bottom-center), and then the Fairview Gardens vegetable stand just out of frame to the left. I hope our town always has fresh organic produce right in among the houses. Seeing these two places we frequent in context with each other stretches my consciousness because I’m down there and up here at the same time. My heart and head are mingled in a moment of recognition and memory.
1097 UCSB Memories
Another place I love from both vantage points is UCSB, mostly because our precious Erin and Molly graduated there in sequence. The sheer beauty helps too of course. But soon after moving here, long before the gals too briefly did we used to attend events, stroll the campus, and haunt the library. I even taught a few tech classes there and helped design a webmaster program. So when this jewel and all the other glories of our town slip beneath our wings, our hearts soar a little higher.
John & Anne Wiley 
You must be logged in to post a comment.