John & Anne Wiley

2011/04/14

Beauty

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 04:17

Several times today beauty has touched me. One was the horrible beauty I see in this place.

6784 Disaster Source

6784 Disaster Source

The disaster locals know as the Tea Fire started at the iconic structure top-left. You can get other views on my Photo Page and Edhat posts. It’s been cleaned up quite well since the fire, and the new growth gives it such a bucolic innocence. Another kind of beauty was along our flight home.

6799 Refined Beauty

6799 Refined Beauty

I think this course in Hope Ranch is named La Cumbre, and it’s relaxing to glance at as we approach SBA. There’s something “absorbent” about golf courses. Maybe the soft greens or softer sand traps. Maybe the calm demeanor of most golfers. Perhaps my association with the hushed voice of TV golf announcers when we’ve chanced upon a tournament channel surfing. Whatever the origins, I relax a bit looking at this. Hopefully they’re using best environmental practices to create this pleasant scene in our town known for Earth Day.

2011/04/12

Home

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 01:40

Whether flying or wandering the area by car, bike or on foot, there’s no place like home for us.

1999 Back Toward Home

1999 Back Toward Home

When we first moved here “for a year” over a decade ago, the modest place we rented was in the area included in this pic from Stearn’s Wharf, in a ‘hood some locals called Monteghetto. As you can see, be it ever so humble it was still a great place to call Home. We used to walk this area called East Beach often, and until moving into our even more modest place with a view of the hills thought we’d always prefer ocean. Now we just go there occasionally as with this visit a few days ago, and whatever the mode of transport we are at least equally drawn to the hills and mountains.

6776 Twist Falls Trail

6776 Twist Falls Trail

For example, we want to try out the trail(s) from a hairpin turn on Gibraltar Road, East to a waterfall I’ve been calling Twist Falls lately because it hits a rock part way down and the ribbon of water flips over in a twist as it bounces. The falls are at the upper-right, and the road is out of frame to the left. Could be just game trails, but they do seem traveled enough they might be safe for us to hike before the scrub burned in the fires re-grows.

2011/04/11

Change

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Inner World,People,SB Region — John @ 01:31

The horrific fire that swept through the Botanic Gardens area left some homes untouched, and in the months since some have been or are being rebuilt. Some like this have been removed with only traces remaining.

6758 Traces of Home

6758 Traces of Home

On the other side of the Gardens, two other homes are in different stages.

6766 Traces of Homes

6766 Traces of Homes

I feel contemplative looking at places like this. Imagining family memories, hopes and dreams swept away in an instant by a river of fire into the sea of Change.

2011/04/09

Nowhere

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:30

Could anyplace be nowhere, or is paradise arrayed everywhere around and within us? My answer as you’ve guessed, tends toward the latter. 🙂

There’s a place locals call the “bridge to nowhere” that has a lot of somewhere about it for us.

6737 Bridge to Somewhere

6737 Bridge to Somewhere

It crosses Highway 154 just North of Foothill/Cathedral Oaks, and opens a world of adventure for those who go there. The formal name is Salvar Bridge and it was presumably built in anticipation of housing development that (so far) hasn’t happened. When wildfires have scorched our mountains, helicopters and fire crews have used the short road as a staging area. Hang gliders launched from the mountains land there. Radio control model plane enthusiasts gather there to fly their cool toys. At the top (North) end, hikers and bikers have used it for years as the entrance to the area locally known as the San Marcos Foothills. Because it’s a bit above town and open, sunsets there can be especially spectacular when the whole dome of sky lights up to overwhelm the viewer unimpeded.

6737 Cycle Jump Closeup?

6737 Cycle Jump Closeup?

This closeup cropped from the bottom (South) end of the short road seems to reveal a spot used for jumping with bikes. We didn’t see it last time there a few months ago, so maybe it’s new. Looks like concrete or something similar has been put on part of it, and they turn around on the dirt next to the intersection at the top-left of this closeup. Below is a snap of the whole area taken a moment later as we passed. Though it’s hazy due to looking more in the direction of the late afternoon sun, it gives an impression of how wonderful it is to walk these hills. Maybe contemplating the opposite of nowhere as each step brings us closer to someplace quiet within.

6739 San Marcos Foothills

6739 San Marcos Foothills

2011/04/08

Going Up

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:52

I love to fly. Guess you didn’t know that. 🙂

Seems like I’d love everything that involves going up, but oddly that’s not so. Not so keen on roller coasters, no interest in bungee jumping, little interest in skydiving, though I would like to try hang gliding. Another in the long list of vertical “not so much” options is rock climbing. I like the idea, but it just seems like too much work before/after a climb, and lots of expensive, heavy gear to haul. It’s fun to watch though, and right next to Gibraltar Road above Montecito is a great spot even more fun than the little rock on Painted Cave Road. So flying the hills I often look at rock formations to see if there’s anyone climbing, but have yet to spot anyone while flying.

6773 Going Up

6773 Going Up

Yesterday we went on a short flight before the weather changed to blustery and wet today, and though I couldn’t tell from the air this telephoto shot when cropped down reveals someone going up the rock face. Cool! Looking at this does give me the urge to try rappelling some time. Maybe someone will offer a swap for flying, since there’s no way I’d buy or rent all the gear much less learn to use it. Any takers? Meanwhile, I’ve put different pix of this on my Photo Page and on Edhat that show the others further down on the rock.

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