John & Anne Wiley

2011/08/09

Just Right

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 20:11

Santa Barbara is the land of Goldilocks. Just Right. Not just the moderate micro-climate weather all year long, but the variety and mixture of micro-geology and city culture with open wilderness. On our Perfect Ten flight Sunday to Oceano, we chose a route along the edge of low clouds that keep Summer temperatures from reaching the uncomfortable levels common in LA.

2855 Air Conditioner

2855 Air Conditioner

It’s always a delight on such days, to climb quickly into clear blue skies and spot the beaches where sun reaches for sunbathers among the others, where quiet couples stroll in the cool quiet. The hills and reservoirs look all the more beautiful somehow, and usually the distant islands are poking their sleepy heads up for a look around.

On such days Vandenberg is often the last to clear up, though the curve of coastline out to low mountains at the North end can show a slice of water to complement the lovely rolling hills.

2882 Cloud Caress

2882 Cloud Caress

Just beyond, we crossed the coast at Guadelupe Dunes where clear skies opened beyond. I turned a lazy circle over the beach to look back at the mingling of colors and textures as we descended to fly along the waves toward Oceano.

2888 Dune Lagoon

2888 Dune Lagoon

2011/08/05

The Croc

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

So I sent some pix of our Anacapa flight to Edhat, and then found this snap of the crocodile that I like better.

2636 Anacapa Island Croc

2636 Anacapa Island Croc

In case you don’t get my name for it, to me this looks like a giant crocodile. The camera was overexposing most of the wide shots like this for some reason, so it’s lucky I’d set it to underexpose by .7 stop. Anyway, after some tweaking in Pshop this one came out not too far from what we saw. Snaps of the beaches and caves came out better.

2539 Quiet Beach

2539 Quiet Beach

There are so many beaches and caves to explore when the sea is calm, but it’s often quite different on the North and South sides of the island. It can also change quickly, and then you could have a challenging time getting to shelter. On a day like this though, it sure looks inviting.

2541 Faux Monolith

2541 Faux Monolith

I like this pic, because the slice of sunlight hitting a sliver of the cliff base creates the effect of a rock monolith standing alone on the beach. When I first looked at this pic, it was fun to imagine ancient peoples carving and setting a stone sentry there that has survived a century or more. In this next pic you can better see the overexposure problem, but I like how the shot puts the lighthouse in perspective.

2584 Anacapa Light

2584 Anacapa Light

If you click it to see the full-size version, you can probably make out the buildings in the center of the shot. Also the white concrete that was probably for collecting rainwater into a cistern, and now appears to be used for storing trash between visits from the tender boat. Here’s a closer view of the lighthouse that evokes impressions of ferocious storms pounding the rocks, and furious gales blowing across the light. Maybe a disconsolate maiden bereft of her beloved lost at sea, contemplating a leap.

2588 Anacapa Light

2588 Anacapa Light

OK, over the top, so to speak. But here’s a last snap in an attempt at my redemption.

2605 Inner Light

2605 Inner Light

Maybe it doesn’t show in this pic, but there’s a luminous quality to the water in the shadows inside the cave mouths. They are lit from within, as if inviting us to a mermaid gathering.

2011/08/04

Oil & Water

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 00:38

Preparing this photo I heard a loud sizzle a moment ago, when Anne put some water in a pan with hot oil (she’s fine). Got me thinking about the ways oil and water get along – or not. It seems to me there are many more offshore oil platforms in our channel than when we moved here 20-ish years ago. I do like the colorful lights on chilly winter nights, and it’s interesting to fly over them like this.

2643 Offshore Oil Platform

2643 Offshore Oil Platform

One of my various “careers” was a Summer diamond drilling job on a Yukon mountaintop, and this reminds me of it a little. I wonder what it’s like for the crew to live out there for a shift. Unlike my mountain drilling though, they can see the city lights. It’s been years since I’ve seen the poetry I wrote up on the mountain, and maybe this will motivate me to look for it. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy all the action in this snap as I do.

2011/07/25

Notice

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:28

Discovery has magic for me. Certain discoveries add an element of magic and surprise, brought simply by noticing.

A familiar view for us is the nearby mountains that endlessly entertain us with changing light and often a fluffy dash of mist or cloud. Sometimes a dome of elegantly painted sky at sunset. Often a circling hawk or a cackle of crows. On a nearer hillock is a snag that draws the eye, and frequently harbors hawk or crows, woodpeckers or smaller birds. Imagine the surprise then to discover a medium-large tree standing alone on a ridge not a mile from our daily vantage point.

2398 Fog Featured Tree

2398 Fog Featured Tree

That’s it to the left of the snag, brought into stark relief by the fog just beyond. That same scene an hour later looked as it usually does, and that same tree is all but invisible.

2400 Vanished Fog & Tree

2400 Vanished Fog & Tree

With the fog gone, the hill beyond camouflages the tree and even seems to shift the shape of the ridge it stands on. This disappearance got me thinking about what and how we notice. Our minds are wired to ignore most of the information flooding into our senses. We’ve evolved to pick out what’s relevant or different. Anything that stands out in some way. If we could build a robot with eyesight no keener and brain no simpler than ours, would it notice the tree in the second photo? Would a mindfulness guru notice it? How many things in our lives go unnoticed? How many of those are relevant or different, but we pass them by either because we lack the presence to notice or because they don’t stand out? Why do I sometimes want to notice and remember more? How does noticing such things somehow stimulate serene happiness? Would that tree stand out in the second pic if my father had planted and cared for it? How relevant will the most important thing in my life be, in the context of ten thousand years?

Anyway, here’s a larger slice of the same scene more as we normally see it, inviting us to notice the tree even less.

2400 Tree Diminished

2400 Tree Diminished

Still, having now seen it our eye is drawn to search for it daily, a familiar face in the sensory crowd.

2011/07/21

Flying Waters

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 05:29

We flew local waters with delightful Di yesterday (Tuesday), and I like several of the pix. This is probably my first attempt at the offshore swimmers we’ve seen from shore.

2343 Ocean Swimmers

2343 Ocean Swimmers

I just love this one of a paddleboard on the shimmering water near Shoreline Park where we had our wedding reception a few days ago (8/7/01).

2346 Paddleboarding on Colors

2346 Paddleboarding on Colors

In the larger version on my Photo Page, the kelp is even more interesting. Last up tonight is the water taxi that runs between the harbor and wharf, named Lil Toot. Very fun to ride, and fun to watch from the air as it toots between the kayaks you see and those out of frame at the top.

2359 Lil Toot

2359 Lil Toot

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