John & Anne Wiley

2014/03/27

Cloudscapes

Filed under: Aviation,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 04:47

Clouds are like rocks, perhaps. Just as I’m fascinated by the glorious rock formations in our mountains, I love watching the clouds dance with the mountains as they thrill to the setting sun.

1457 Mountain Wave

1457 Mountain Wave

The show often begins with a cloud like this waving at the mountains. The aviator in me also knows that it signals an interesting ride for planes crossing the mountains, because of the wave of air uplifted to create those lenticular clouds. Then looking West, the cloud shapes and textures are completely different as the day continues fading.

1447 Texture

1447 Texture

Just before the colors begin to magically drain away, darkening edges sound a final pipe organ chord of deeper blue and brassy orange announcing the coming enchantments of Night.

1454 Final Notes

1454 Final Notes

2013/12/22

Home Lights

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 04:17

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

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

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

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

0073 Home Lights

 

2013/11/07

New Wealth

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,SB Region — Anne @ 09:56

The title of this post is not to imply that We have new wealth – but it seems some do and are putting it into homes they will live in – or at least visit!  Though we live way modestly in this town, we counted our blessings in the air today – one of which was that we were in the air… 🙂

As we flew above Santa Barbara, I (Anne) noticed how much construction is going on. Surprised me in the midst of this economy. These are the crème de la crème of course – Montecito and Hope Ranch areas of ultimate wealth. I thought to show some construction that is happening.  For example, this is Oprah’s:

5348 Oprah rethinks her style

5348 Oprah rethinks her style

We fly over ’cause everyone knows O and her property is large & easy to spot. Though not new construction, she has been doing a major remodel, and recently auctioned off most all pieces of art & furniture – & even 5 small motorcycles? Her African school that educates girls will receive a boost in funds from the sale. On closer view, these guys are carting things out of her Montecito home, presumably to accommodate new items that she will enjoy more.

On the Hills – more challenging terrain:

5285 New Constrtuction

5285 Hilly House & Terracing

Also in the Hills, below, with lots of space to call their own.  See all the tiles sitting on the roof.   Bet the owners hoping they are in place before the rains come.

5290 Expansive

5290 Expansive, tiles stacked on roof

Now we’re along the coast from the SB Harbor to the airport.

5424 Smaller with beach below

5424 Turret and more

Maybe a mo-in-law unit in the back, above?

A pool going in while construction is happening:

5428 Along the coast

5428 Along the coast

Below is the biggest place, and we’ve been watching it develop for many months.

5433 Hope Ranch Manse

5433 Biggest Newest Hope Ranch manse

Just for context, the next photo shows the setting for the above biggest newest mansion, just so you can see where it sits:

5436 Biggest plus Lake

5436 Biggest plus Lake

It’s on the coast, see the beach below. Then note the LAKE that was developed on this property too. We refer to it as “Hope Lake” but have no idea what they like to call it.

We imagine the life these folks might have – and wonder how they came upon funds to live in this way.  And we happily fly on by!

~by Anne

2013/07/30

Twins Flight

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,People,Random — John @ 06:47

It’s fun to go thru pix from our Islander Adventure again, because each time I do it some different images and themes emerge. This time, skipping ahead several days from my last post, it was the flight from Charleston to St. Marys that stood out. In particular these three pix on the theme of twins. First this twin-engine Osprey that was waiting next to the runway as we flew over.

2592 Osprey Waiting

2592 Osprey Waiting

Tho we were fascinated with their airplane, they didn’t even glance up at Tripp. Probably too focused on their training mission from some nearby military base I guess. Fun to see this view of one poised for a leap into the air.

2610 Twin Survivors

2610 Twin Survivors

Out among miles of giant corporate farms, these two trees have somehow managed to survive from the days when a lonely farmer planted them for shade. Maybe the workers driving huge tractors still pull up there for lunch, and have quietly saved them from the plow for that purpose. Then a scene that to me matches this mood and takes it further while also matching the pic of another farm house that I posted last time from this flight, so I can stretch this one to be a twin for today’s theme.

2614 Remains of the Day

2614 Remains of the Day

You might not be able to tell from this small pic (click for larger), but this is all that remains of a farmer’s hand. It too has somehow survived abandoned along with a few trees, a patch of grass, and a few rows where someone apparently grows veggies next to where they park some equipment. Looking out across the expanse I wondered if there had once been dozens of little farms, each with a few buildings and many stories back to when tribes wandered here. So few lives are long remembered, and so many more are soon forgotten.

2013/05/20

Home Again

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,SB Region — John @ 03:36

There’s no place like home.

8587 Sweet SB!

8587 Sweet SB!

The mountains, ocean, greenery, and most of all the delicious gentle air that caresses your entire being. Oh, we’ve traveled far and enjoyed so many wonderful people, places and things. But none can compare for us, to our little home tenderly embraced by the Pacific. It’s almost impossible to believe that we woke in Flagstaff and made the short flight to the Grand Canyon this morning.

8432 Grand Canyon SE

8432 Grand Canyon SE

Because I didn’t have the narrow main canyon corridor programmed in any of the three GPS units I use, I didn’t want to chance navigating it using only the paper chart. By entering the Southeast corner of the restricted area at 10,500 feet, I would be above the minimum 10,000 all the way to the western exit near the airport. But the air was especially turbulent over the canyon, making it challenging to hold altitude and all but impossible to find the landmarks to visually navigate the exit corridor. I haven’t looked at all the distant views we snapped of the main canyon yet, but the corner we did fly over was still remarkable as you can see here.

8424 Grand Canyon SE

8424 Grand Canyon SE

There was haze both from distant fires and the humid air from surrounding rain squalls, so it’s likely the photos won’t begin to match how our eyes took in this vista. Since it’s only a few hours from home, chances are good that we’ll go back and try again sometime soon. In coming days I’ll share more pix as we review them all. For now, it’s delicious to be Here. Comfy in our home with our familiar stuff, and tonight a deep sleep in a cozy bed with nothing that interferes with sleeping until we wake refreshed from dreams of our Islander Adventure. 🙂

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