John & Anne Wiley

2011/03/22

Clouds roaming hills

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,SB Region — Anne @ 06:52

SB had record rainfall yesterday the 21st, its highest in history ever recorded for ANY day, at 5.23″ in one day.  Today, the 22nd, was supposed to be clear so we intended to fly for a photo shoot of waterfalls which we figured would be abundant.  It did not clear up all day – until late in the afternoon.  I was about to end a phone call as John came in the room making flying motions.  So off we went and he got some BEEutiful shots which he will share but he can’t get to it yet. In the meantime I’m posting one I took and also encourage you to look at his “Flickr” page (see right and click on “More Photos”) to see one of the prettiest he took.  Here is my humble offering of our spectacular flight in the meantime…

1879 Clouds caressing hills at sunset

1879 Clouds caressing hills at sunset

~by Anne

2011/03/19

Days in boots

Filed under: by Anne,Has Photos,Nature,Random,White North Adventure — Anne @ 08:24

While walking downtown in short sleeves, John noted “It’s a little cool today without a jacket.”  Then he heard himself, given recent context of our month in climate 100′ colder than Santa Barbara, and repeated the sentence so we could both take in what an amazingly different experience we were having.  So it seemed fun to revisit this man on a bridge in recently purchased big clumpy warm boots.  Though head and hands are momentarily bare, the car is just across the street.  Behind him is the North Saskatchewan River completely frozen and covered with snow.

1520-not in shirtsleeves

1520 Not in shirtsleeves

On the same outing I snapped this snowy home as we drove by.

1529 Snow House

1529 Snow House

We enjoyed our time there, and it’s fun to see it warmly from this distance.

~by Anne

2011/03/16

Alligator landscapes?

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,SB Region — Anne @ 06:55

Here are a couple of shots I took from our recent delightful flight.  The first is at the east end of Santa Rosa at the Channel Islands. I have another view where the beach has the shape of an alligator head so maybe you can imagine that.  I chose this because it shows more shapes on the island.

1770 Rosa Tip

1770 Rosa Tip

On our way home we flew higher than usual and so I got Ojai in the background and a wider view of Lake Casitas than usual, with again more shapes visible.  The land shapes slithering into the lake from the left, maybe influenced by my thoughts above, are now reminding me of a mama and baby alligator.  Do you see them?

1833 Lake Casitas

1833 Lake Casitas

~by Anne

2011/03/11

Channel Islands

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,SB Region — Anne @ 10:00

I need to go through some of my SNOW photos from our White North trip, but for now I’m entranced with being home.  For us this week it included a trip out to the Channel Islands.  I like this photo from the south side of Santa Rosa for the force of the swirls on land and water.

1753 Santa Rosa Cove shapes

1753 Santa Rosa Cove shapes

Land configurations are quite different on each of the islands.  As we were cruisin’ over the many rolling mountains of Cruz, I noticed a canyon that runs pretty much lengthwise down the center.  There were also portions of red Sedona-like rocks at varied places, like on the bottom right corner of this photo.

1785 Cruz Canyon

1785 Cruz Canyon

Lovely day of flying!

~by Anne

2011/02/21

Full Color = B&W

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,White North Adventure — Anne @ 18:44
Studies in black & white – that’s my theme today, along with some swirling shapes.
I took this swirly b&w in between some bumps we felt along the valley between Butte and Helena in Montana:

1361 Frozen LakeRiver
1361 Frozen swirly LakeRiver

With views like this,  a friend wrote concerned we’d been freezing in our little plane on the way north. Admittedly in anticipation of the trip, I imagined shivering with blankets stuffed all around me. However, like a car, heat is generated by the engine, so we were totally toasty for the whole trip.  In fact more toasty than the heat coming from the Nissan Sentra we’ve rented for driving around Edmonton. John actually flew in his sandals, & I wore thin socks without shoes!

Lethbridge was our “port of entry” into Canada, and this was the runway that greeted us. Fast-flowing  drifts of snow felt like being in the middle of a river flowing all around us.  The video I took (see photo page link on the right) shows it better than the still. Great landing by John as usual:

1375 Snow river on runway

1375 Snow river on runway

Here’s a view back at Lethbridge as we left the next morning on the 10th. More b&w, some swirling roadways and river. Swirling shapes, frozen rivers and lakes abound – I had images of ice skating on natural ponds while here, but as people here say, it’s “too cold to skate” now!

1393 Lethbridge Valley
1393 Lethbridge Valley

All these photos that look b&w are all actually in full Color. It’s just that there is NO color in Alberta in winter. The only thing that stands out as color is red:

1364 Red farmhouse on white

1364 Red farmhouse on white

Below is the most b&w of all, and the impetus for my study. Though in full color it looks like a b&w etch-a-sketch, as though if you lifted up that gray cellophane paper, the lines of the town would disappear:

1397 Black&White Town, Alberta

1397 Black&White Town, Alberta

Overhead Edmonton was b&w too – the houses all have snow on the roofs, so you only see the outside razor-thin edges of black that look like pencil outlines.  My ending photo today is this – b&w, swirls – and Pyraminds for your pleasure.  I haven’t yet discovered what the pyramids are about but will update when I get their story:

1404 Snowy pyraminds Edmonton

1404 Snowy pyraminds Edmonton

Currently we are at 0 degrees (-18c) and that is warmer than yesterday, and we’re off to move from hotel to our B&B!

~by Anne

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