John & Anne Wiley

As I’ve said before, there seem to be several phases in any flight. They seem to apply to life in general, but are especially clear related to flying the way we do (relatively low and slow). Again, the main phases of a flight are the one you: Daydream, Plan, Take, Remember, and Dream. So our Daydream for today’s flight was to briefly zip up and look past the Santa Ynez Mountains of Santa Barbara, and enjoy the fresh snow on the higher Sierra Madre range beyond Santa Ynez Valley. The general Plan was go fairly early, before a predicted wind shift might make it somewhat bumpy. As you’ve guessed by now, the Take was different. Not just in that we left more than an hour after planned, but this rare encounter soon after takeoff.

0704 Ercoupe Encounter

Now if you’re unfamiliar with or uncomfortable about flying in small planes this photo probably freaks you out. Take a deep breath and keep reading. This was cropped from a zoom shot, the cute little Ercoupe was a safe distance from us, and we were both talking to ATC for extra safety. In fact, in addition to Ercoupes being rather rare the really unusual thing about this is that we passed closely enough to get pix like this. Half this distance would have been safe, but most of the time if we manage to spot other “nearby” planes at all they’re several miles away. So already we were having major distinctions between our flight’s Daydream, Plan and Take. Next came another unusual encounter.

0727 Lower & Slower

It’s also fairly unusual for us to spot a helicopter. This guy can fly much lower and slower than we. Not only can such machines hover motionless or move vertically through the air, the FAA allows them to fly half as high above populated areas. Can you tell I’m just a little jealous? 🙂

0772 Distant Thrill

The flight we Remember features this scene, but it looked quite different from this hazy pic. It was crisp, immediate and refreshing. Jameson Lake was brighter green, and the snowy peaks looked much closer. Plus, as always the camera only saw a narrow slice of the 3D surround experience we were enjoying. Soon we’ll sleep, and quite likely Dream the flight. Interestingly, those Dreams of flight never seem to have any sound. Just silent bliss as we dance intimately with the terrain, as if we were the whisper of wind in the trees.

Our thoughts about Dad today are warmed by learning that he’ll be honored for his skateboard pioneering at the next IASC conference.

On a recent flight with friends, I noticed this unusual rock formation (I’m a rock hound!) that stimulated several thoughts.

0634 Rock Shelter

First I wondered what caused the large boulder at the lower-right to break off a large chunk. Had ancient people been involved at all? It seems like a great little shelter. I wondered what it was like there when the recent fire swept through the area, and noticed that the trees near the rock seem to have survived. Just now looking at a closeup of the rock, another thought came to mind.

0637 Traces

Those look like traces of human activity in the boulder at the upper-left. About the right size for acorn grinding holes. So I thought about people sheltering in the big boulder and chatting as they prepared food in the other one. Enjoying the spectacular view of the villages scattered below and the islands beyond. Pausing to watch a passing hawk taking it all in.

After a few days without flying, we realize that ordinary happiness differs substantially from the bliss induced by the dreamy dance with terrain known as low and slow flight. That magical and impossible to define realm between ground level and about 1/4 mile up. Some pilots call the effect of this experience “vertical therapy,” in recognition of its calming and healing effects. Maybe a single word applies: Elevation. We notice powerful Elevation of our spirits during and after each flight. Often on the days between flights we get a momentary lift simply from the sound of a small plane passing overhead.

Can mere photos capture some essence of Elevation? Probably not, yet it’s fun to try. While looking at these, may your imagination drift into some hint of Elevation.

0424 Wrinkles of Change

Walking one of those paths is evoked by this view, along with a sensory flood of impressions from land contours and the “wrinkles” the passage of life makes on them. Let your mind wander into an impression of what it’s like to move over this scene in a three-dimensional dance that surrounds your soul. The paradise palaces people build often add splashes of color to the canvas.

0428 Palace of Colors

The variety of shapes and textures on the planet each add elements to the endless story we read from above.

0429 Spread

The magic of Spring that spreads before our gaze mingles with the other seasons to invite us back to the domain of hawks ever again.