John & Anne Wiley

2012/07/22

Different Time

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 01:50

In downtown L.A. or S.F. you can find great museums that take you back to a different time in California. SB has an excellent little historical museum too, and strolling the exhibits you’re transported to the past. But away from cities it often seems you’re actually in those earlier times.

1191 Hidden Valley

1191 Hidden Valley

Though it’s quaint and winding compared with California’s monotonous I-5 corridor, even the 101 freeway has bypassed the slower pace of Hwy.1 that meanders through a hidden valley toward Lompoc. Timeless rock outcrops near the road take you back far beyond the pastoral hay fields of early settlers to a day when indigenous peoples roamed here.

1192 Rock Talk

1192 Rock Talk

Sitting in the shade of those oaks that the settlers sheltered under, you can study the same ancient marks they did and dream of forgotten fireside stories under the stars. A time when magic moved in the sunlight and danger stalked the darkness. When storytellers were personal friends and family, and collaboration was the highest value.

Passing through this reflective realm we emerge over Lompoc where fields of color fade to the misty beach, and loops of river unravel to the sea.

1194 Misty Moment

1194 Misty Moment

Advancing to the last century, our landing is greeted by Piper Cubs designed when one of the Wright brothers was still a leading aviation expert.

1195 Cub Brothers

1195 Cub Brothers

As a boy, on summer nights I felt the quick blush and long pause of an airport beacon on my bedroom wall. Standing tall out there in the dark a silent sentinel, searching for lost planes like these. Offering a safe and welcoming place for plane and pilot to sleep, back in a time before digital navigation. Within sight of a time when only people in the biggest cities had lost the protection of the Milky Way and countless constellations on brilliantly starry nights, and flying was the realm of dreamers.

2012/07/21

Symbols

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 04:08

In my youth, the notion of living far from people held a strong appeal. Partly perhaps a symbol of independence, and partly a hero’s journey. A foray into the wild to vanquish demons and return a man. So when I fly past scenes like this, there’s still a deep part of me that resonates.

1174 On the Beach

1174 On the Beach

I am there, alone with the pounding surf. Contemplating life and meaning, living off the land. Well, that’s the image anyway. The reality is of course quite different. Near this spot is a very different symbol carved in the dusty earth.

1173 Alien Landing Zone

1173 Alien Landing Zone

I guess there’s a chance it’s a marker for an alien airport. Using their scanners from space to detect this spot, they home in to touch down and begin their invasion. Or maybe it’s just a symbol of someone’s practice on a dirt bike. Another symbol nearby is written on the water.

1172 Water Marks

1172 Water Marks

The seaweed accents an oil seep, symbols of life. All the marine life visiting the fast-growing kelp, and the life long past that has transformed into oil that bubbles up from the sea floor. Surveying all these symbols, I recall another that we enjoyed recently.

04_770 Shape & Sound

04_770 Shape & Sound

As we sat listening to a jazz ensemble from this year’s Music Academy concert series, I pondered the symbols (and cymbals) in the music. Interwoven strands of life painted in sound. We were just outside the circular performance area at Paseo Nuevo, and as you can see I was also contemplating the symbolic shapes. A tree of life reaching past a concrete window between worlds. A brief retreat much nearer than that cabin on the beach. A half step back from the circle of humanity, yet still very much engaged. Now I choose the circle, the life and companionship of community, and the beach is a fleeting impression passing beneath my wings.

2012/07/20

Some Days

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:10

Most mornings we look out the window and delight to the beauty, just like most people who consciously chose to live here. But on some days the particular type of beauty we see, strikes us differently than most people. You see, especially clear and calm air like we saw today brings a slow smile as we think about how to clear our schedule and go flying.

1420 Some Days

1420 Some Days

This is what I’m talking about. See, we can tell with a glance at our mountains and a quick check on an aviation satellite view, that we’ll be treated to vistas like this. The islands so “close” you can touch them out there floating on a thin haze. The light and colors so crisp your mouth waters. It was even better a couple of hours earlier, but we dallied around the house getting ready. Still a somewhat tolerable ride in clear and calm air tho. 😉

1456 Lake Casitas

1456 Lake Casitas

We flew over to Santa Paula and passing the lake it was even more magnificent than usual as we looked back toward Santa Barbara. Some days I see shapes and colors differently while flying. As abstract art. Like this.

1455 Abstract

1455 Abstract

Even the vast suburbia of Camarillo/Oxnard looks abstract to me in such moods, so maybe you can forgive my sharing these. Chalk it up to aerophiliac euphoria. 😉

1468 Patterns

1468 Patterns

I’m sending more words & pix from today to Edhat, and putting others (and maybe a video) on my Photo Page (links in the right column here). But here’s one more to represent another remarkably fun and mood elevating thing we did today. After stopping by home for a quick meal we went downtown to a mellow free “Hot Club Sandwich” concert at Chase Palm Park. People dancing, kids of all ages, picnics, family fun, dating scene, and a balloon artist.

1535 Balloon Bargain

1535 Balloon Bargain

Some days, life is almost unbearably sweet.

2012/07/19

Skilful Aviator

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,SB Region — John @ 01:33

I’ve known some great pilots, and admired many more. Among those I admire are many non-human aviators like this one we saw at a creek near the airport.

1112 Fancy Flying

1112 Fancy Flying

I don’t know yet what breed of bird this is, but it sure had a large repertoire of moves. It could briefly hover like this, then sit on a stone and watch with its head snapping from one potential target to another. In a heartbeat it was darting toward another snack.

1117 Quick Takeoff

1117 Quick Takeoff

In flight it might notice a flying insect, and turning on a dime snatch it right out of the air.

1118 Air Meal

1118 Air Meal

This action was almost too quick for me, but you can just make out the winged insect in the bird’s beak above. Even with all the joy we find in flying Tripp, it’s still breathtaking to watch an aviator like this putting on a free air show.

2012/07/18

Around Town

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 05:58

A philosopher who spoke in Anne’s “MSM” series once said something along the lines of this: “Our highest purpose in life is to fully enjoy it.” That struck me at the time as tending toward self-indulgence, but my opinion has shifted. Now I see it as a call to a complex challenge. To become ever more conscious of the beauty all around and within us, and to expand that awareness by stretching our envelope. On the ground, I sometimes wonder if the rare luxury of flight can be justified by sharing it with all who share our passion. I don’t seem to ponder it at all while stretching my envelope of conscious joy with sights like this.

1043 Tucker Trail

1043 Tucker Trail

At the end of Turnpike near where Anne used to work, is a park with a trail that goes up into the mountains. We’ve walked it many times between the park and Hwy.154 that runs across the pic at the bottom of the golden brown stripe of dry grass. The trail starts just off the bottom-left edge of the pic and is in the green stripe running up the middle to the mountains. Walking there feels like being in the woods, even tho as you can see there are houses on both sides. SB has several trails like this, and we’ve enjoyed many of them both on the ground and from the air. Just looking at the pic triggered a deep breath just now. 🙂

1050 Break Water

1050 Break Water

A couple of miles away across town, the breakwater breaks the waters between the harbor and the open channel. Off to the left is the end of the popular sidewalk from the harbor. I guess people scramble along the rocks from there to reach this area near the tip for paddleboarding and kayaking. Translucent turquoise water like this never ceases its enchantments for me. Maybe the contrast between these first two pix is part of the conscious stretching process of flying for me. To deliciously Be in one place, and a minute or two later Be in a completely different place.

1094 Books 'n Beets

1094 Books ‘n Beets

We often stop by the Goleta Library (bottom-center), and then the Fairview Gardens vegetable stand just out of frame to the left. I hope our town always has fresh organic produce right in among the houses. Seeing these two places we frequent in context with each other stretches my consciousness because I’m down there and up here at the same time. My heart and head are mingled in a moment of recognition and memory.

1097 UCSB Memories

1097 UCSB Memories

Another place I love from both vantage points is UCSB, mostly because our precious Erin and Molly graduated there in sequence. The sheer beauty helps too of course. But soon after moving here, long before the gals too briefly did we used to attend events, stroll the campus, and haunt the library. I even taught a few tech classes there and helped design a webmaster program. So when this jewel and all the other glories of our town slip beneath our wings, our hearts soar a little higher.

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