John & Anne Wiley

2012/11/20

Bliss 360

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 04:40

Taking off from SBA is bliss in every direction. Mountains, ocean, city, country, and hints of all the other variety California has to offer from redwoods to lakes and rivers to deserts. All of it caressed by idyllic weather here in the Goldilocks zone. No matter which runway we use, lifting off we’re greeted by transcendent scenes like this.

1345 Up & Out

1345 Up & Out

The sensation of lifting up and flying out over the water is thrilling, quickening the heart and instantly expanding the horizon. There’s the beach, slough and pier where we just roamed with E Man. Arcing back over the shore in a gentle climb, the trusty song of Tripp’s engine disappears until the whisper of a gentle breeze soothes our souls.

1348 I See UC

1348 I See UC

There’s the Isla Vista we’ve strolled, and the UC campus of Erin and then Molly. Even after a long dry spell like we had here until this weekend, there’s so much to thrill the eye and nourish the soul as we approach the mountains this time.

1359 Eye Level

1359 Eye Level

Turning along the shoulders of the peaks we easily rise until eye level with the ridge. There’s the Old San Marcos stagecoach road we’ve driven with friends and family, pausing to enjoy the smell of sage and stretch our legs. Now I look at a dry waterfall, silently awaiting the rain that will refresh all this and trigger an explosion of life.

1362 Expectant Falls

1362 Expectant Falls

All of this, and a 360 degree panorama more, has slipped beneath our wings in just 360 seconds of bliss. This is why we fly.

2012/11/17

Pitt Stop

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 19:05

When we’re flying West of town, sometimes we check in on Brad & Angie’s sweet little place on the beach. I doubt they ever visit anymore, but the caretakers at the left end keep it looking good for us.

1315 Pitt Stop

1315 Pitt Stop

I like to picture us sitting in lounge chairs looking at the surf and sipping a beer, with the sound of each gentle wash of foam on the sand taking us more deeply into nourishing relaxation.

1315 Imaginary World

1315 Imaginary World

Or maybe taking to the waves on that pair of surfboards at the bottom-right. It’s easy to see how this would have been a good Pitt stop when they wanted a break from a stint in the pressure cooker of Hollywood.

2012/11/11

Generations

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Inner World,Random — John @ 22:38

Today we remember the generations who went before, and honor their sacrifice. Lately I’ve been enjoying an email conversation with one of the men who flew with Anne’s Dad in the Pacific. He’s been sending me photos from their time at Guadalcanal, including this one that’s much clearer than any we had.

VPB-104 Crew 76

VPB-104 Crew 76

Looking at these young faces in front of the PB4Y (Navy B-24) that was destroyed a few weeks later, gets me thinking of what they experienced. I see a playful camaraderie masking a fatalistic seriousness that makes me both appreciate what they accomplished liberating the islands, and hope that some day humanity might reach an end to war.

Far Out

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 02:30

Far out of town to the West beyond Refugio is a little enclave with some wonderfully creative homes on the bluffs overlooking the beach. Unless you’ve flown low and slow along this coast (or spend a lot of time on Google Earth) you might never know such beautiful and whimsical houses are there. Places like this with its sprawling free-form roof, and a little rounded structure behind it at the right.

1301 Free Form

1301 Free Form

This next one shaped somewhat like a sea creature’s shell, evokes the late 1960s when architecture expanded with all manner of “far out” rounded forms. Must be a very cozy and beautiful place to live.

1304 Sea Shell

1304 Sea Shell

Two doors down is this home with a very angular collection of shapes, offering a great contrast in its straight lines.

1306 Sharp Angles

1306 Sharp Angles

With so many of our homes following the rectangular form, it’s always fun to see architects and builders going far out of the norm. Maybe this proves yet again that diversity is a core human value.

2012/11/10

Down Home

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 00:34

Maybe my tastes in aerial pix is predictable, but is it explicable? I like rocks, and you’ve seen plenty of those here. I like mansions & grand estates, as you’ve noticed. I like sea life & surfers. I also like abandoned human stuff, like this little shack near the beach up past the grand Bacara resort.

1318 Down Home

1318 Down Home

I’ve noticed it often on flights past this area, and thought I’d already shared an aerial pic of it here. Since I couldn’t find any pix here going back a few months and as already mentioned this sort of thing intrigues me, here’s a view down into it.

As for explaining this particular fascination, maybe it’s about Life. Seems to me many of us would like to be remembered when we’re gone, and noticing this remembers the people who lived there in a way. For me it’s also about noticing Now. Imagining myself there when it was inhabited, reminds me that those people most likely seldom if ever thought about it. We tend to live as if things will never change, caught up in living so much we aren’t really aware. When I’ve spoken impulsively, sometimes I can “see” the words hanging in the air and feel something like regret that I wasn’t more aware. If we’d lived here would we have been conscious of our good fortune in living with loved ones on a bluff over the sea, or might all our attention been spent on the mundane? There was a line in a song something like, “Loving is mainly just memories. When you’re gone I’ll be glad to love you.”

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