John & Anne Wiley

2012/10/30

Extremes

Filed under: Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 00:05

They say global warming leads to extremes in weather. This evening as we look out at beautiful blue skies with a gentle breeze wafting 73° sea air through the palms, the weather seems anything but extreme.

0508 Evening Hills

0508 Evening Hills

Our thoughts turn to our beloved Allie where it’s 25° and snow, and precious Molly where a hurricane approaches with a stinging mist blasting horizontally and winds aloft raging at 190mph according to this aviation website.

Aviation Wind Map

Aviation Wind Map

It’s easy to see how intense and uncharacteristically south-bending the jetstream is up at 36,000 feet where a few airliners are making rapid progress by riding it. Down at the surface, 70mph winds and rain are ramping up to wreak havoc on the northeast. Here’s hoping you’re warm and safe, and that our loved ones come through this ok.

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2012/10/29

New Light

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 08:03

Flying SB it’s always fun to see old familiar places in a new light. On another recent clear air flight we enjoyed old favs like the Mission Hills area.

1145 Mission Hills

1145 Mission Hills

From the mission (bottom-right) up to the peaks, this part of town still looks much like it did years ago. The development has been relatively slow above our beloved “Stevens Bridge” towering over Stevens Park at the bottom-left in this pic.

1146 Pale Substitute

1146 Pale Substitute

Sometimes when we can’t fly, driving across that bridge gives us a hint of the vista and the fun of voting for mountains or coast. Lately the coast has won out sometimes, because the islands have been fairly clear. Still, it’s a pale substitute for the vistas we inhale on flights like this. Last up in this batch, another look at the Courthouse.

1152 Popular Spot

1152 Popular Spot

Most people in town know this is a popular spot to take tourists for a great view from atop that clock tower bottom-center. The building and sunken garden lawn beyond is also popular for weddings, including a couple cementing their bond eleven and some years ago in a quiet private ceremony. When we see people enjoying themselves and each other there, we smile. 🙂

2012/10/26

Contrasts

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 08:01

We got a fun surprise today: another chance for a quick SB flight in clear air. I’ve been wanting to try a polarized filter to see how a similar scene compares when taken with and without that filter. So today before we took off I put the filter on and shot some pix around town. Here’s one with a view of the harbor similar to the one I shared yesterday.

1232 SB Postcard

1232 SB Postcard

I really like yesterday’s view, but this one’s better to my eye. First off, it has more contrast and that gives it more punch. So much, it looks to me like a postcard of our beautiful city by the sea. Guess I’ll be snapping more pix with the filter occasionally, even on clear days rather than only on hazy days as I did on our AB Joy adventure. Anyway, by way of contrast here’s a pic from a few days ago when it was hazy but I didn’t try the filter on this one.

 

1136 Soft SB

1136 Soft SB

To me this could be another sort of postcard. Almost air brushed, with the layer of cloud giving a soft accent. A quieter mood with the faintest whisper of lapping waves in the rustling sand. A hint of sea air, with an impression that the clouds are slowly drifting along with my eye. Yes, it seems I like this one too. 🙂

2012/10/25

Clarity

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 19:10

I like clarity. Between people when there’s understanding, compassion and rapport, my heart soars. When pondering a problem, I love that moment of clarity when a solution emerges. There’s another sort of clarity that gets me excited, and that’s when the air is free of haze, smoke, dust or anything else that limits our ability to see far into the distance. Recently we’ve enjoyed each of these forms of clarity, and here’s an example of the latter.

1088 Home Free

1088 Home Free

When our hometown is free of anything that reduces clarity, pix like this are possible. Interestingly, our eye sees it this way on most flights. While you can improve clarity with Photoshop, it can be quite a bit of work and still not come across with the punch of a clear day. This one was back on 10/14 when we flew sweet Sarah, and we flew yesterday for another clear day that I’ve sent pix of to Edhat (see link in the right column here). She also got to see our peaks from the air for her first time, and one of my favs from those pix are the shots of Tooth Rock (aka Cathedral Peak).

1118 Tooth Rock

1118 Tooth Rock

The light was just right for a good look deep into the “cavity” at the bottom as we passed. How many people have lived in this over the ages?

1121 Cathedral Cavity

1121 Cathedral Cavity

2012/10/20

Everywhere

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 20:32

I love flying, especially here in the SB region, which begs the question: where have we flown that I have not enjoyed. After a moment the one place I think of, is out of El Paso headed home from a Big Adventure. I thought 500′ would make it more interesting, but it wasn’t. After a few miles I climbed to 4,000′ or so and then it was fun again. Just as I love flying Everywhere, here in SB it’s fun looking Everywhere.

1083 Hope to Hills

1083 Hope to Hills

No matter which SBA runway we lift off from, or which way we turn, SB is a wonderland of magnificent vistas like this. Often while flying along the coast from runway 15 when ATC will grant us a “left crosswind departure” toward the harbor, I’m looking mostly at the mansions. Some of the most beautiful estates in North America are on the bluffs of Hope Ranch overlooking the Channel out to the islands and beyond. But glancing up on this flight, I enjoyed the line up past Laguna Blanca to the base of the hills where we live and up to the mountains. Maybe because of so many warm memories there, the attractions around Hendry’s Beach (Arroyo Burro) often catches my attention.

1084 Hendry's

1084 Hendry’s

I didn’t notice it during the flight, but on this pic I got curious about writing in the sand at the right edge. Flipped over and cropped from the original, here’s a better look.

1084 Wilcox Wife

1084 Wilcox Wife

Apparently, some enterprising suitor prepared this message in the sand and then proposed from the trail up on the Wilcox (Douglas) preserve. I wonder if the pranksters who changed the “RR” to “BB” had done so before the proposal. I guess we can assume her answer was “Yes” and that she’s soon to be a Wilcox Wife, joining the women before her proposed to or wed there. In this last pic for this post, is another popular proposal and wedding spot.

1085 Shoreline

1085 Shoreline

I know this, because we celebrated our impromptu marriage with a re-enactment for family and friends at Shoreline Park. It’s the sliver of waterfront grass with walking paths and trees right on the bluffs overlooking the water.

Everything about flying is evocative for me. The flying itself resonates with countless dreams, watching birds, and my lifelong fascination with aircraft. The new places I see from the air resonates with my delight in discovery and my enjoyment of views from high places. The familiar places we fly over resonate with memories. Yesterday we were talking about our good fortune in finding a partner who shares our love of flight. In a sense, for us flying is Everything.

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