John & Anne Wiley

2011/01/08

Rainbow Banners

Filed under: by Anne,Happiness,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — Anne @ 08:07

After taking care of overdue errands like smog testing our car for its registration, and finding some fun stuff at a seldom visited local home improvement shop, today we drove down “altered” State Street.  One of the fun things on this endlessly magical street are the rotating Banners, always highlighting some new event or organization.  Often it takes awhile to find out what they are representing, and many disappear within a couple of weeks, never revealing their hidden secrets.   Today’s version is reminiscent of the Chromatic Colors sculpture across from East Beach.  We have yet to discover what these particular banners are doing on State St now, but once we do I’ll update the blog.  I like how these bright rainbow colors contrast with the dark Black:

1246 Rainbow Banners lining State St

1246 Rainbow Banners lining State St

by ~Anne

2011/01/06

Sunset Bird

Filed under: Aviation,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:13

Strolling a nearby knoll this evening, we heard the quiet hum of a small plane (looked like a C-172 similar to Tripp) descending toward SBA in the West where we’d been watching the sunset. Looking back toward that familiar and beloved music we saw this explosion of cloud color contrasting with the gentle plane at the top-right corner.

4291 Sunset Approach

4291 Sunset Approach

It’s an enchanting time to fly, and we were transported aloft as we watched in rapt silence.

2011/01/05

Two in a Row

Filed under: by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — Anne @ 08:41

After such a rainy month, we delighted to see clear skies, and treated ourselves to flying two days in a row.  John explained our transponder problem, so Monday we took a quick 15 minutes to check it out.  ATC sent us out over the ocean, so we flew higher and got different views than usual of shore.  I like the clouds sitting in stacks on the mountains:

1208 Clouds Grabbing Hills

1208 Cloud Smoke Stacks

Tuesday we settled on our preferred plan to replace the transponder and headed to San Luis Obispo to purchase and get it installed. On our way I got the snowy background of the Sierra Madres, beyond Cachuma Lake.

1243 Cacuma Lake & Snow

1243 Cacuma Lake & Snow

The sun was setting on our flight home, so soft pink skies and twinkling lights through the green Santa Ynez valley accompanied our flight, made even more pleasant with our new transponder.  I dreamily enjoyed the shimmering SY valley, the ocean view as we came over the mountain, and approaching the city lights of SB.  I felt, as I so often have, so very lucky!  And grateful & inspired that John pursued his dream of flying, and went through the rigors of getting a pilot’s license. I’m glad his dream included flying with me too!

by ~Anne

2011/01/04

Rainbow Halo

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 03:12

We finally got up for a short flight today, and saw a magical rainbow halo around a little cloud. We climbed high trying to get our transponder to work. That’s a little box that sends an ID number to ATC so they can tell at a glance who we are, to more conveniently distinguish us from the other planes flying around SBA. It was working perfectly since we bought Tripp, but coming home from Christmas in San Diego it decided to stop working when we landed to see friends in LA. Tomorrow we might fly to SLO for a replacement, but today while testing it one last time we got this treat.

4262 Cloud Rainbow Halo

4262 Cloud Rainbow Halo

The cloud was about over Hwy.154 in the Santa Ynez Valley, and rain falling on the slopes beyond made a really cool rainbow behind the little cloud. We’d thought about flying in that direction to see snow on the higher slopes of the Sierra Madre, but as you can see they’re all covered in clouds. Just as well, since without the transponder our preference was to stay closer to home. Sure was nice to fly again, because it’s been more than a week!

2011/01/03

Fresh Snow

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 06:54

This morning there was fresh snow on the local mountains, but we couldn’t see it until the clouds lifted. The wind was ripping the trees around and clouds were marching past the slopes, but we saw several gulls and crows doing aerobatics as if to mock our inability to go flying in Tripp.

4258 As the Crow Flies

4258 As the Crow Flies

It seemed as if the crow was returning from having created the storm and capped the hills in white. In reality, he was just flying down to join his friends in the stark branches of a dead tree on a small knoll.

4251 Murder of Crows

4251 Murder of Crows

Can you make out the “murder” (group) of crows at the bottom center of this pic? Well, turns out Anne couldn’t either so here’s a cropped version.

4251 Cackle Choir

4251 Cackle Choir

They seemed to be quite enjoying the weather, and were bragging loudly about it. We saw them fly around noisily celebrating, arguing, chasing, or whatever it was they were excited about. Then they’d glide back to perch there watching, with an occasional eruption of “crowing.” Tooth Rock (aka Cathedral Peak) looked especially mystical in the dark of thickening clouds.

4259 Tooth Rock

4259 Tooth Rock

It’s the pyramid-shaped rock on the right. Can you make out the caves in the face? There’s an especially big one at the base, though they’re all fairly shallow. I like to imagine ancient people living or at least having ceremonies in them, and some day it would be cool to find a way of reaching them. I’ve yet to see a good trail, despite flying all around it several times. I wonder if the crows visit it.

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