John & Anne Wiley

2010/05/31

Quiet At Home

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 19:59

We enjoyed a quiet Sunday, puttering around the house and entertaining a friend. That fits the quiet mood of some pix from Friday’s flight to Lompoc. According to a comment on my first Edhat post from the flight, the Knapp’s “castle” ruin now has caretakers. I imagine the silence up there must be powerful. Especially at night, when the coyotes aren’t singing and you can hear every little sound of nature around you, looking over sleepy Paradise Valley to the Sierra Madre beneath silent stars beyond.

6543 Knapp's Castle

6543 Knapp's Castle

There’s a different sort of quiet around the mansion at Michael Jackson’s former Neverland Ranch. It had been unkempt after he moved out, but since his passing it has been restored. The massive oaks stand quietly as if contemplating the people and activities from past times. There’s something so forlorn to me about this place, and it will be interesting to see what will happen there next. See our photo page for other aerials, including the train depot, zoo and rides.

6561 Neverland Mansion

6561 Neverland Mansion

Another study in celebrity retreats we “visited” again was Brad Pitt’s place on the beach near El Capitan. I wonder if he visits there or will sell now that he’s mostly in New Orleans, and what the white open tent is used for (and how it has survived the freaky ferocious winds we’ve had this year!). I imagine him sitting with loved ones quietly sipping some cool drink and listening to the waves lapping on his beach.

6590 Brad Pitt's Beachhouse

6590 Brad Pitt's Beachhouse

As we tied Tripp’s tail to the ground back at her home airport, we heard a bumblebee busily browsing little yellow flowers. Darting so quickly even this 1/800 second exposure is blurred, it still evoked a lazy summer mood in us.

6607 Browsing Bee

6607 Browsing Bee

Perhaps our languid flight, glimpses of quiet homes, and the enchanting weaving of the bee all fit somehow with the quiet mood of our holiday weekend. Shall we go untie Tripp today and have a new adventure?

2009/11/02

Comeback

Filed under: Big Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Relationships — John @ 05:36
Here’s another pic of the morning market we enjoyed in Tallahassee.
Our flight to New Orleans was mostly hazy, but this rippled shoreline near Biloxi fascinated me.

Landing at the smaller Lakeport airport, we saw some evidence of Katrina but from the air mostly things seemed either rebuilt or removed. Our cab driver into Big Easy shared heartbreaking stories of his personal trials from the storm and aftermath. Still, he spoke of resuming his tuba playing to join a band. He gave us tips on where to go for the best parties and music. Before long we roamed the French Quarter and beyond, joining the sort of glorious celebration that New Orleans does best. Sometimes all eyes were on the street, and sometimes everyone would celebrate a balcony display.

Some of the costumes were dark, and some of the revelers were silent and serious.
We saw jesters watching and walking amid the smiles and cheers, with almost sad expressions. I wondered if there were more such participants in festivities since the storm, with so much suffering still fresh.

The juxtaposition of life and death walks these streets, as it has since early days.

2009/10/25

Two Great Cities

Filed under: Big Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 04:33
I’ve added to the Photo page, and here’s a snap of some favorite buildings from our second flight down the Hudson. Already feels like a week ago.

Amtrak from Wilmington to the Capitol was fast and comfortable, putting us near enough to walk. Instead though, we first got on one of the step on/off bus tours that run continually because it was raining buckets. We decided to get off and brave the elements though, because it was impossible to take pix and difficult even to see much. We bought one of the $5 umbrellas that seemed to appear on the streets, and that lasted us until the clouds finally parted at sundown.
We noticed a gentle mood in people. Everyone seemed solitary in contemplation, almost reverent, yet happy and so warm it reminded us of some global extended family. The kind that might disagree, but is well aware of closeness and reaching out to maintain it. We felt that the most here, and were moved all over again reading Lincoln’s words in this thoughtful historic place.

Sure wish we could fly near enough to get some pix from the air! A helpful Metro employee gave us a tip on a place we can easily get a bird’s eye view, so hopefully tomorrow we’ll get some panoramic pix from there.

2009/10/24

Mad About NYC

Filed under: Aviation,Big Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random — John @ 03:17
Something we enjoy about flying the way in which we do it, is change. There’s the change it makes to the psyche, somehow altering time and space as we know it. The change in our perspective on this incredible planet of course. Also though, there’s change of plans. It turned out that the airspace was locked up for flyers of our sort (poor), so rather than Linden our best option was Westchester. We connected with an exceptional couple near there who offered two of their places for us to stay, and their many kindnesses enhanced our brief NYC experience exponentially.
Our first night was in midtown in a loft of their business. Dropping our stuff (including the bike which I’d lugged on the subway and partially assembled outside Grand Central to the considerable enjoyment and/or annoyance of thousands), we set off to explore. This scene anticipates our adventures that Herman Hesse might say are best enjoyed by “Madmen Only.”
Dinner at Mario’s got us off to a great start, then we walked. A lot. Mostly up Broadway. Times Square is perhaps the most descriptive in this size of photo, but if time ever catches up again (maybe in a few days?) I’ll post some larger pix on the Photo link.
Meanwhile, there’s one detail from the Square that conveys what substance helped us stay so awake at 1am with little sleep and many travails.
Next day with the bike fully assembled we rode from 36th up to the park. Don’t do this if you are a fearful person, because the bike lanes are considered hunting preserves. We survived, and actually enjoyed it. These two outcomes might have been partly due to what we were riding: my custom bicycle for two, consisting of two seats and double-wide pedals on a cheap old standard mountain bike. People laughed, did double-takes, stared, took pictures, and perhaps decided to spare us as unique specimens of bike riders. It was also delightful to be riding rather than walking or sitting in a bus or subway, and being able to actually converse about what we saw. The park of course, totally blew us away. There’s simply no way to describe how amazing our time was there, as we rode around and through it all the way up to the Reservoir. Lots of pix of course, but here’s one I especially like for the size of pix on this blog (remember this from any movies?):

The day continued getting more magnificent as evening approached and our friends joined us for a truly breathtaking flight. With the Hudson now open to us, we four flew down and back. From all the pix, here’s one I like in this size:
Here’s another, of the Lady who symbolizes so much.
Wish I had time to write and to process/share more pix, but instead I’m going to sleep for the first time in three days (not counting truncated dreamtimes). Tonight we’re in Wilmington (change brought us here rather than the several other options we’d planned). Tomorrow we’re on Amtrak into DC for at least one night. At least that’s the plan tonite…

2009/10/21

Vineyard, Nantucket, Cape and Long Isl.

Filed under: Aviation,Big Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People — John @ 01:34
Our ride back to Providence airport offered the opposite of last night’s driver. Joe has led a long and fascinating life. “I like the seasons,” he offered. He loves living and working in Providence, and going dancing with his girlfriend. He also seemed to enjoy flirting with the desk gals at the hotel, so there’s life in Providence after all.
After much discussion we decided to fly out and have lunch at Martha’s Vineyard. Along the way, RI offered some intricate interactions of wind, sand, sea and hardy plants. We wondered what would cause the shapes in the lagoon.

It turned out the airport is a long ride (when you can get one) from the tourist areas, so we grabbed a sandwich to go at the airport restaurant and then became captivated with the WWII memorabilia and stories from the days when this was a stalwart guardian of the north Atlantic and a training base for pilots. Now it seems to have become an outpost of the FedEx flocks from Providence, and a stop for tasteful tourists.

Then after more discussion we decided to go out and have a quick look at Nantucket. “It’s probably just like the Vineyard.” On the other hand, “It’s so close and something we’ve heard of since childhood.” Turns out it was completely different, and the rewards for our excursion were many. The lighthouse seems the epitome of courageous guardian, standing on a spit clearly overwhelmed by storm seas flashing its warning to seafarers.
Cruising back over the Vineyard, their light seems tame and protected until you contemplate the ferocious storms.
We crossed over to Woods Hole, and went up Cape Cod to Hyannis before turning into the wind for our dash to Islip before dark. None of our photos over Long Island came out due to smog and sunset, but the images sit sweetly in our memories. We were surprised at how few houses there are in the East Hamptons, until we realized they’re all cut directly into little squares of the forest.
Tomorrow we plan to skirt any TFRs and all the myriad airliner playgrounds, and slip into Linden, NJ for the Staten Island Ferry into Gotham.
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