John & Anne Wiley

2012/06/13

Always New

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 05:49

We took a very dear 83 year young friend flying this evening before taking her to the Beachside near the airport for dinner. It involved some coaxing, but we got her to take the controls for a moment so we could snap her doing this new thing in her life. She found it comfortable, and did surprisingly well at quickly and intuitively getting the feel of a gentle turn.  No matter how often we fly it’s always new. Today not just from having our friend along, but the soft coastline where the clouds were dispersing in the warming afternoon breeze.

0150 Soft Coast

0150 Soft Coast

In our half hour jaunt we flew up to the ridge for a look at where Sunday’s “Circle” wild fire was. It was a little hard to spot, though the wide clearings along the ridge road seemed new. That area wasn’t black though, so maybe it did burn and they’ve just cleared it to the dirt ensuring it can’t rekindle a blaze and to provide a wide fire break. That’s Cachuma Lake at the upper left.

0152 Fire Clearing

0152 Fire Clearing

If you click to see the large version of 0152 above, you might make out the small area near the far end of the clearing that is black. As we flew past it heading for dinner, I snapped the closer view below. Looks like the reddish fire retardant dropped by an airplane (vertical line bottom-left) slowed the spread so that hand crews could contain the blaze at the blackened area. You’ll find other pix on the Edhat and Photo Page links in the right column here.

0157 Circle Fire End

0157 Circle Fire End

2012/06/12

Dam Good

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 18:33

It’s good to fly. Always relaxing and refreshing. There’s always something new to see too. Even if you’ve seen it before. Even if you’ve seen it from the air before. Especially if you take pix.

1936 Juncal Dam

1936 Juncal Dam

It’s not just this “new” angle on Juncal Dam, but the exposure setting I chose that gives it this magical floating quality. Jameson Lake completely disappears, making the dam a barrier against oblivion. Even this more “normal” pic has a charm for me, somehow evoking the witch’s castle in Wizard of Oz.

1934 Witch Dam

1934 Witch Dam

It also makes a visually tasty “damwitch” slice between pieces of water and greenery. But for a more complete return to normal, here’s the whole lake for context. Including the other two types of concrete work that impound the reservoir, one scalloped and the other a low gentle curve.

1937 Jameson Lake

1937 Jameson Lake

2012/06/11

Housing Geometry

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 01:52

Some homes explore geometry beyond the rectangular shapes most of us live in. This collection is between Carp and Ojai.

1882 Country Geometry

1882 Country Geometry

I like how the angular buildings complement the round landscaping in this first one. Also the contrasting colors of the trees. Next up is a hillside fortress with sloping walls.

1883 Slope Shapes

1883 Slope Shapes

The complex geometric shapes mix well with the sloping stone walls and wandering paths. This last one is massive, and though there’s a clump of rectangles at the core it has some other shapes mixed in. There’s a well-tended estate around it extending beyond this pic. Imagine floating in that indoor/outdoor pool and paddling out to the edge to take in their marvelous view.

1899 UnSquare Feet

1899 UnSquare Feet

2012/06/09

Rock, Water, Life, Time

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 07:02

When I fly the hills here, the rocks never cease to sing their stony stories. Maybe a geologist would benefit from scientific understanding of every nook and cranny. To me, there’s sculpture wrought by water, life and time.

1852 Tangerine Falls

1852 Tangerine Falls

Not just the rain and waterfalls, but every life form that has touched these rocks makes a mark. Sometimes I see the rocks moving in slow motion over eons to catch a play of light that simulates shapes in my imagination.

1855 Fantasy Shapes

1855 Fantasy Shapes

Talking amongst themselves, they speak to me. When I walk or drive among such shapes they speak, but from the air another sort of language emerges somehow.

1857 Detail

1857 Detail

Maybe the same details would emerge looking across a ridge or down a ravine. But maybe the combination of a fleeting whim to snap a scene combines with the ease and freedom of flight to produce what I experience as unique. I don’t recall a single snap from the ground that evokes what these views do for me.

1860 Add Air

1860 Add Air

When I add air to the rock, water, life and time, another dimension emerges.  An expanded context. Somewhat like when I first met The David in Florence, Italy. I walked around the shape several times, and was startled by how much more powerful it is in three dimensions. I wanted to float around it to see every angle Michelangelo did. I wanted to add air. Is this part of the fascination I find in flight?

2012/06/08

Fly Envy

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 01:15

As a kid, I had fly envy. Watching them whiz around and even land upside down on the ceiling made me want to do that. Now my fly envy arises when we haven’t flown for a week or more and I hear a distant plane. Well, just now it nudged me to share some flying pix. I chose the place nearby with a scary name (in Spanish), Diablo nuke plant, because Edhat ran one of my pix from that flight today. That’s it in the distance in the first shot of course, but check out how beautiful that whole area is.

9281 Diablo Area

9281 Diablo Area

That big offshore rock at the right is the subject of the next pic, and if you click to see the larger version you can make out lots of seals and some birds hanging out there.

9289 Seal Rock

9289 Seal Rock

Locals will know I was approaching Diablo flying along the coast toward Avila and home to Santa Barbara. That route offshore gives a nice safe view of the nuke plant, and the reassuring sight of the gravity-feed core cooling water reservoir above the plant. It’s sure situated in a beautiful area. I sighed deeply just now remembering that flight. My fly envy is temporarily eased. 🙂

9292 Diablo Hills

9292 Diablo Hills

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