John & Anne Wiley

2013/01/22

Coming Home

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 18:42

When we go for a short flight, the newness stands out. The moment of liftoff is a splash of cool water on a hot day. A sudden fresh blush of breeze, and the first note of a great symphony.

2742 Far Point

2742 Far Point

Occasionally I’m instantly looking back from one of those far points I gaze at from home. The beginning was certainly breathtaking and new, but somehow a part of me begins again from that distant place. I am a hawk turning lazy circles in the sun, surveying the wild stone and scrub. For the rest of the flight, I’m coming home. Edging into the first touches of our unnatural lines, though they still follow natural contours at the edge where some life is still wild.

2739 Wild Edge

2739 Wild Edge

Descending further we enter a world where only a few untamed things remain, and life is increasingly shaped by human hand and eye. Most life has a purpose, harnessed to a symmetry of human gain.

2781 Green Order

2781 Green Order

People near this edge of nature feed the rest of us and maintain our roots into the forgotten past when all life was a random dance. Now as we near the touch down at the end of an enchanted brief adventure in time and space, home is changed.

2732 Tiny Worlds

2732 Tiny Worlds

Each angular bubble of manicured order can insulate a household from the ancient wild places so near. When we have ventured into the nature of our origins, coming home is enchanted. We can remember the wild places within and between us.

2013/01/20

Sunset Fabric

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 06:12

Sunsets are often magical in this region, and watching them from the air is often transcendent. Up here the light lingers much longer, and many times when we land it’s startling how dark it already is on the ground. The fabric of sunset is woven among all the things that stand tall, as shadows silently fall into darkness.

2595 Valley Glory

2595 Valley Glory

So it was as we looked back along the highway winding among the hills from Gaviota toward the valley we’d just left. Each furrow in the terrain was stretching inexorably up the slopes until it claimed their colors for the night. As we passed the peaks their rocks, hills and mountains were bathed in beauty saluting the Pacific sunset in a gathering haze from distant agricultural fires.

2603 Evening Salute

2603 Evening Salute

The last light of day reveals texture, and the mysterious weave of this ancient stone face stood out to accent the sunset fabric.

2670 Woven Rock

2670 Woven Rock

Each hour of every season offers delight and joyful nourishment to the aviator who takes the time to descend from the clouds to move at a respectful distance among the wonders of earth.

2013/01/18

Valley Views

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 23:53

I love California. Even when the hills are a furry golden brown in Winter. But after some rain, the green hills and valleys are also breathtaking in the morning and when evening light gently caresses their colors and shapes.

2553 Golden Green Flank

2553 Golden Green Flank

After we passed the golden tinged green flank of the hill descending into Santa Ynez, the old barn in the vineyard by the airport was lit by our “Heiligenschein” (near the top-center where our shadow would be if closer).

2556 Heiligenschein Vines

2556 Heiligenschein Vines

Since the term for it is such a mouthful, I tend to just call it a “Glory” even tho that’s not technically what this type of “anti-solar” effect is. Oh well, eh? 🙂

As we climbed out of the airport toward Gaviota Pass, treetops taking their last glimpse of daylight in the valley brought a deep sigh that just happened again as I looked at it. What a magnificent planet we share!

2571 Last Glimpse of Day

2571 Last Glimpse of Day

2013/01/16

Close Encounter

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:40

It’s fun being near bigger and faster planes when we fly. This big KC-130J was especially close, as you can see.

3663 Close Encounter

3663 Close Encounter

We were sitting in the “run-up” area for Runway 25, when this big critter cruised thru SBA for a “touch and go” practice landing.

3661 USMC KC-130J

3661 USMC KC-130J

So we weren’t more than a couple of wing spans away as it went by, and the pilot was clearly visible. These big birds are used by the Marines for aerial refueling. Felt like a mini personal air show. 🙂

2013/01/13

High Minded

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 04:13

I used to think about taking the train from SB to Lompoc, just to see that beautiful coast.

2804 Amtrak Coast

2804 Amtrak Coast

These days, having flown it many times with views like this, not so much.

2805 Highfalutin

2805 Highfalutin?

Is it “high minded,” highfalutin” or just plain snobby of me to look down at that little train in this big view, and imagine the brief glimpses it provides of the scene we’re immersed in up here? I don’t mean to be sanctimonious, yet flying is such a magical thing! Added to the immensity of panoramic delight, there are little scenes like this magical blending of colors and shapes.

2798 Dream Carpet

2798 Dream Carpet

It all weaves into a Dream Carpet every time we fly even for a few minutes. I hope you can forgive how endlessly and ebulliently I sing the praises of flight, because to me the words and pix still fall so woefully short of giving you an appreciation of my pure Joy. 🙂

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