Old stories of flying sometimes touched on the heartwarming sight of lights burning to guide pilots home at night. With considerable skill and a good helping of luck, they’d navigate rickety and unreliable biplanes across empty darkness for hours. Literally kept alive as night descended by brief glimpses at compass and chart by a tiny red light kept dim to preserve night vision, and self-checking constantly without allowing fear of being lost as night crept in.
0037 Creeping Night
So very different for us winging home in Trusty Tripp from San Diego across the LA basin tonight, with familiar lights and myriad crowded freeways to guide us safely on past enchanted cloudscapes. Not to mention radio naviation aids those early pilots could only dream of. But even those are now far obsolete as we enjoy the latest GPS devices that turn night to day, in terms of knowing exactly where we are. So we have plenty of relaxed time to enjoy the sights, as Hwy.1 to Malibu slips twinkling past.
0039 You Are Here
After the last light fades, we’re treated to the lights of home as we look across downtown Santa Barbara with the colors of business accented here and there by especially bright seasonal home lights.
0070 Santa Barbara Sparkle
But even without mentally traveling back a century to an open cockpit over a lonely black expanse, lining up to land at SBA brings a warm rush of comfort with her home lights burning brightly.
0073 Home Lights
John & Anne Wiley 
Hi Anne & John. I’m still doing okay, the nurse, want me to stay on oxygen for now, I’ve Been taking asparagus juice in my coffee twice a day, and so far it doesn’t sound like the Water in my left lung has built up any. that’s a good sign.. that email from your sister! Anne Hit the nail on the head, seams like not many families are perfect and they all get along, As they should I always at odds with my younger brother, most of the time we got along good But at times that didn’t,t happen. I wanted to wish you two a HAPPY NEW YEAR. I toasted the new year in with Joni and a big shot of Irish Cream Liqueur. It tasted so good I even toasted One for you two. I know how and why you enjoy flying so much, something like us when we flew Along the beach in the pacific islands and the native all came out to wave at us. Have a good year. Love. Claude
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Comment by Claude w. Hawkins — 2014/01/02 @ 04:02