John & Anne Wiley

2012/10/18

Variety

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 08:13

Unusual amount of variety for us today! If you live in SB, you know one source of variety. If you live elsewhere, maybe you’re among those whose local news sources reported the evacuation of SB. If so, rest easy because the evacuation was 100 homes in the tiny community of Painted Cave up on the mountain. Here’s an annotated still pic the NBC LA news chopper got over the fire that greeted us this morning, when it was finally knocked down this afternoon with no homes damaged.

Fire Aerial

Fire Aerial

Another source of variety in our day was the new free Android aviation GPS app named Avare that our friend Zubair and I are donating to aviators and app programmers. Anne’s helped too, so it’s added to our daily variety for a month now. We also have a weekly Skype call with our daughter and family, and that’s always a delightful distraction. Today I added several hours’ effort setting up Google Talk in case that’s more reliable for our future video chats. Then there’s looking at pix to share, and I like this one Anne got on our short 10/1 local flight.

4325 Sunset Rush

4325 Sunset Rush

This little boat rushing toward the sunset looks courageous to me somehow, even tho the seas are calm and weather clear. Last up is another view from our local 10/14 flight with Sarah. There was a variety of activities going on at UCSB’s Campus Point, from tide pool exploration and beach strolls to kayaking.

1080 Beach Variety

1080 Beach Variety

I wonder what tomorrow will bring. Maybe a quiet day, so I can post only pix from 10/14’s flight and explore more from that variety of scenes between sea level and our nearby 4,000 foot peaks.

2012/10/15

Generations

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:44

We took our sweet and serene Sarah on a short flight in the clear air today, and it began a memorable time together. She’s a recent UCSB grad, so we got permission from ATC for a flight past her old haunts starting with this look East from Devereaux.

1072 To UCSB & Beyond

1072 To UCSB & Beyond

Like her we have many fond memories of that campus, going back years before she was there. We of course also feel fondly about the airport next door. 🙂 Passing the beach, this group of surfers in the clear shallow water (can you see the faint ripples?) took me back to my own youth.

1075 Surfers In Shallows

1075 Surfers In Shallows

When we reached this scene, the contemplative look on Sarah’s face was wonderful to behold.

1079 Looking Back at UCSB

1079 Looking Back at UCSB

After the flight we had dinner together at our place and watched “My Afternoons With Margueritte.” It fit so poignantly with our day, and the love we have experienced with family and friends lately. After the movie we spoke briefly of “Us-ness.” That field of mutuality we experience with kindred souls, that’s not about “me” or “you.” A warm glow of togetherness that transcends personality. It somehow triggered these words in me, as I realized that such moments have always carried forward across the millennia.

May the magic of our Us-ness
Linger in our hearts silent spaces.
May we ever remember
To pass their essence
Onward down the generations.

2012/10/14

Local Wander

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 06:07

We went on a local wander flight at the end of last month, and I thought you might like to fly along. First up is this different angle than you typically see of the Mission.

1035 Mission Side

1035 Mission Side

Nearly all pix you see are facing the front and featuring the twin bell towers. From this side you can see the smaller bell tower (center bottom), and the twin courtyards. Just out of view to the left of this pic is the Garden Street Academy K-12 school that we (not being Catholic) didn’t know about until several years after moving here. We thought the tower that’s visible from the Natural History Museum across the creek in the background, was part of the mission building. It was probably when we started flying seven lucky years ago that we thought it was a seminary. Only recently did we learn it’s a non-denominational school.

1034 Garden St. Academy

1034 Garden St. Academy

Next up is this puzzling pic of a greenhouse in Carp. What is causing those white arcs on the gray roof? Maybe sprinklers inside, leaving an accumulation of hard water rings?

1039 White Puzzles

1039 White Puzzles

Heading back to SBA the city lay before us in the sunset glow, stretching lazily out to the harbor out to the islands beyond.

1041 Warm Invitation

1041 Warm Invitation

My last offering from this day is the sort of fireworks we often see over SB. We love how lush our town is with trees and greenery, and the flashes of color like this from flowering trees that pop up into the slanting sun with a last giggle of daylight over the quiet neighborhood.

1043 Sunset Giggle

1043 Sunset Giggle

2012/10/13

Down to Earth

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 03:14

This post is a miscellany of pix bringing us up through 9/26 that has a down to earth feel for me, even though it includes flying and even this item from outer space.

0936 3 Jets, 1 Spaceship

0936 3 Jets, 1 Spaceship

This was on 9/21, the last day of the Shuttle’s CA tour that ended in LA. I’d been trying to find out where it was online, and finally got an update when it flew over VAFB near Lompoc. So I grabbed the camera and went outside to watch it pass offshore. When a small plane passed over heading for SBA to land, I glanced up when the engine revved and saw that the plane was doing an unusual maneuver as if the pilot were straining to look above and to his right. I looked in that direction and much to my surprise, there they were. Normally I’d have fixated on the fighter jet escort, but this combination of the ungainly 747 and shuttle on top was completely irresistible.

0938 Big Bird

0938 Big Bird

A few seconds later I snapped this just after it passed almost directly overhead. It was of course much higher than it looks in this cropped zoom shot, but you could actually make out some detail on the underside of the shuttle wing with the naked eye.

0939 Shuttle Detail

0939 Shuttle Detail

In contrast with the gray in these shuttle pix, we enjoyed a colorful visit from a young friend and her young son. Among the delights was when we took them for a swim.

1000 Student Swimmer

1000 Student Swimmer

Then we took them flying, of course. 🙂

1024 Local Icons

1024 Local Icons

I didn’t take aerial pix of anything but these two local icons. At the bottom is the Santa Barbara County Bowl, where there’s been a recent major construction project I wanted to check out by studying this pic later. The big white building at the top used to be the famous Brooks photography school, where we occasionally toured the ever-changing photographic art on the walls. Last up is this odd pic of our beloved Hass avocado tree.

1033 Mitey Conflict

1033 Mitey Conflict

We’re hoping it’s the scene of a “mitey” conflict. See, the envelope rudely stapled to a leaf contains “predator” mites that will hopefully dine on the parasitic mites that have been munching the leaves. An expert from the Bartlett Tree service said our tree’s fine. We’d called him, worried about the mangy look of the leaves but he assured us it’s doing well. He said if we wanted to help it do even better, we could order a spice shaker with a thousand predator mites. The little plastic jar came UPS wrapped in cold packs in a scary looking “live animals” box, and we had lots of fun dispersing them on the tree in the seven provided envelopes. Since they’re nearly invisible, and we only managed to spot two of them on the tree the next day, maybe the whole exercise is more of a Feel Good strategy. Like when a teen boy buys shiny hubcaps for his first car, even though it’s nearly ready for retirement. 🙂

2012/10/12

Tough Call

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 08:07

We took some time deciding whether to chance the return flight from Catalina, or stay the night in Two Harbors. In the end we decided to try for it, and worst case spend the night in our tent at the airport hoping clouds would clear the next day. So on the long bus ride, we were discouraged to see this as we passed Little Harbor and started the climb up to the airport.

0805 Ominous Clouds

0805 Ominous Clouds

Luck was with us though, and the airport was clear. Five minutes after takeoff, we were back where the bus had started 45 minutes before we got to Tripp.

0813 Two Harbors

0813 Two Harbors

We waved our wings to our friends on their boat in Isthmus Cove on the right, and decided to fly around the island one last time for an aerial tour.

0851 Clearer Catalina

0851 Clearer Catalina

Even though there were clouds here and there, this view as we passed the eastern tip was much clearer than what had greeted us approaching from the same direction the day before. How many memories and fun moments we’d enjoyed! After we’d passed the other end on our brief tour, we circled Avalon beginning our climb for the crossing to L.A. for our flight home.

0897 Leaving Avalon

0897 Leaving Avalon

We savored the variety of things we’d done in just one day on this unusual island, and after an hour of beautiful vistas Tripp had brought us home. I love to fly! 😀

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