John & Anne Wiley

2011/03/28

Private Paradise

There’s an old Woody Guthrie folk song named “This Land…” that included a verse about private property, and I’m reminded of it by a discussion in the Comments to some of my aerial photos of waterfalls published lately on the Edhat.com local community website. I know several hikers who tend to be creative in their interpretation of private land rights, and many who would never cross a fence of any kind even if no signs are posted.

An especially beautiful set of at least four waterfalls just South of Hwy. 154 and East of Old San Marcos Road is a case in point.

6315 Secret Scene

6315 Secret Scene

While someone on Edhat has said these falls are on private property, it does seem a shame that the only people who get to see them other than the owner and authorized guests or trespassers, is a pilot like me who takes time to “smell the roses” rather than just race from one airport to another. I wonder if people routinely visited these falls for countless millennia up until a few decades ago, and whether we may see a change in laws and norms that would allow that again. Meanwhile, this is yet another reason I love to fly!

2011/03/27

Way Back

Looking way back into the Sierra Madre, the different ridges lead up to snow with white puffy clouds above that.

6301 Up To White

6301 Up To White

Way back in our “front country” South slope of the Santa Ynez Mountains are some remarkable rock formations that few people may have seen, like this channel cut deep into the crossing layers of sandstone.

6311 Rock-Water Intersection

6311 Rock-Water Intersection

Way back in time, maybe this elegant seasonal waterfall was a gathering place or a ceremonial landscape.

6324 Thin White Line

6324 Thin White Line

Way back on the 22nd is when I shot these and perhaps a dozen other waterfalls. One of these days maybe I’ll catch up with all the pix I’m excited to share. Maybe instead I’ll get over this falls fetish and find my way back to the present. Could happen…

2011/03/26

Fall Guy

The title of this post might become one of my Santa Barbara nicknames, because like last year I’ve been having lots of fun flying around the Santa Ynez Mountains spotting seasonal waterfalls. After so much rain over a prolonged period, waterfalls appear where you’d never normally see them. Today I spotted this one next to a road, that I haven’t seen before. I got a better pic that I’ve sent to Edhat and will put a larger version of that one on our Photo Page.

6547 Goleta Motor Falls

6547 Goleta Motor Falls

Another one I enjoyed today was this wispy mist off a rock ledge on the North face above Nojoqui Falls. I wonder how many people know it’s there, and have ever made the arduous trek up for a look.

6501 Mist & Stone

6501 Mist & Stone

I love the wizened stone, and imagine Indigenous people taking vision quests in those little caves.

2011/03/25

Rain & Shine

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Random,SB Region — John @ 10:12

We’ve had more rain tonight. The sights, sounds, and smells of it are still welcome to us. I guess because unlike in Seattle, we know it will stop. Also, it has not only stopped but the skies have partially or completely cleared after a few hours or a day. When they clear, it reminds us of those days in Seattle when it had been raining or overcast for weeks, and then the sun came out.

6434 Between Storms

6434 Between Storms

Yesterday between storms was like that, and after late night rain so was today before it closed in again. Tomorrow is forecast to be good flying weather about the time Anne’s going to a meeting, so I’m hoping to take some air with Tripp. Meanwhile I’m reflecting on all there is to enjoy here in paradise.

1906 Courthouse in a Puddle

1906 Courthouse in a Puddle

2011/03/24

Back to School

I know. Pix of UCSB might actually get boring for some people. For me though, especially lately with clear weather and lots of water and green and clouds… Well, lately I’ve been asking ATC for takeoff from funway 25 (meant to say Runway 25 of course, but the slip fit so well I left it in). Anyway, by going from that runway there’s a great view of UCSB and the islands as the first visual greeting aloft. sigh…

6295 Molly Factor

6295 UC Factors

The fact that Molly and Erin went there adds a lot too, almost like the shimmer of the slough is a mirror back into years of warm memories.

OK, so tomorrow I’ll start sharing more pix from this 3/22 flight. Unless we fly between storms again and get something so fun I get jolted back to the present. 🙂

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