John & Anne Wiley

2013/12/16

Winter Sky

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,SB Region — John @ 22:20

We seem to be flying more the past week, taking brief flights almost every day (I’ll probably post some aerial pix soon). Partly it’s the wonderful Winter air. Like all planes, Tripp loves cool air. Like many aviators, we like the light this time of year. Like many Santa Barbarian spectators, we’re also enjoying the season’s colorful sunsets. Last night I snapped these during our walk.

7601 Mystery Moon

7601 Mystery Moon

Because it’s not quite full, the moon rose before sunset and was well above the mountains when the colors found their way through openings on the horizon to paint shapes here and there.

7602 Nearly Full

7602 Nearly Full

Over neighborhood windows illuminated in the flickering TV blue, this silent show played briefly outside. So many miracles around us go unnoticed.

As we walked up a nearby hill, the sun’s last flash of red from beyond the horizon hung over holiday lights in cloud strokes painted by invisible fingers of air.

7607 Cloud Flame

7607 Cloud Flame

Then red softened to allow subtler tones back into the sky as all color began to drain toward a Winter’s night dotted with holiday displays tilting hearts from the afterglow of 2013 toward another year.

7612 Wispy Afterglow

7612 Wispy Afterglow

2013/12/10

Night Lights

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,SB Region — John @ 10:34

It’s been a while since we’ve flown the SB night lights, so we set off at sunset and toured the coast to Carp waiting for dark. The cloud show was typically fabulous for this time of year.

6546 Sunset Glory

6546 Sunset Glory

Soon it was dark enough to set off city lights against the fading glow over the mountains. If you click to see the larger version of this pic, you can make out the half dozen or so boats in the Harbor left over from the Parade Of Lights. We saw some seasonal lights too, and I’ve submitted pix of those to Edhat that might show up there Tuesday.

6702 Harbor & State

6702 Harbor & State

After an hour or so of savoring the light show, the airport lights were also colorful of course. But for aviators, the lights of an airport at night color the heart with a warm and welcoming glow.

2013/11/29

Lightness

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 05:46

I’m not clear on why, but when we fly out to the Point Conception Lighthouse we always seem to return with an expanded “lightness of being.”

5841 Pt. Conception Light

5841 Pt. Conception Light

Of course, we only fly out there on calm days when the air is clear. In other words, very seldom. Usually there’s fog, haze, low clouds or smoke in the air and the wind is gale force as it rounds the point. So maybe the placid seas and expansive views as we approach the Point, conspire to shift us into deeper connection with the lightness we feel during pretty much every flight.

5843 Getting to the Point

5843 Getting to the Point

In the distance on the right is of course another point that’s within the boundaries of Vandenberg Air Force Base, and VAFB hasn’t so far allowed us to fly close enough for good pix of that. Luckily the dunes, rocks, sea caves, and heather here are quite enough to enchant the visitor.

5840 Point Conception

5840 Point Conception Enchantments

A relatively new resident on the beach, just barely visible on the narrow beach in the second pic (#5843) above, is Gingerbread. A lovely lighthearted name for this little sailboat that ended its adventures there.

5845 Gingerbread

5845 Gingerbread

As you can see from the sand that is accumulating in her cockpit and hull, she’s slowly sinking for a second time – into the beach. Yet somehow the sadness I feel in seeing this process further along every time we fly there, is transformed by the expanse of magnificence surrounding her. The dreamers who once pampered this little boat, have now moved on to other expressions of love.

Immersed in the experience of Lightness flying over this magical place, it’s easier to remember that Love is about Letting Go.

2013/11/13

In City and in Forest

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:36

There’s a line I like in an old Leonard Cohen song, “In city and in forest, they smiled like me and you.” I’m reminded of that theme looking at this home hidden in a forest right here in paradise.

4973 Forest Home

4973 Forest Home

It’s so lush and secluded, surely it’s in a jungle far from everything. But from the air we can see how it’s nestled among orchards, greenhouses, mobilehomes, and not far from the fascinating wetland and beaches of Carp.

4975 Well Placed

4975 Well Placed

Barely visible at the bottom of the pic, you can see how well placed this home is for a quiet life with easy access to the relaxed playground that is Carp and all the culture Santa Barbara has to offer. I relax just looking at it. 🙂

2013/10/30

Escape

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 02:16

I once yearned for Escape. Not just from urban life, but at one point from even civilization itself. Now I’m quite happy living on the edge of “Goldilocks” Santa Barbara, small enough to escape rush hour but large enough to have plenty of arts and culture. So it’s easy to understand people in urban Silicon Valley wanting escapes like this farm offering a taste of rural life.

4906 Escape Farm

4906 Escape Farm

Visitors can test their escape skills on the mazes, or escape modern life on the “hay ride” winding its way thru the fields at upper-right. Kids can escape the supermarket and discover the joy of choosing a pumpkin right from the farm at upper-left. Further up the central valley, my beloved Uncle has created his own escape.

4887 Escape the City

4887 Escape the City

Among the innumerable canals and waterways north of Sacramento, he planted rows of eucalyptus trees to escape the relentless winds. He created a dream home to escape the tensions of everyday life.

4892 Escape Dream

4892 Escape Dream

I dampened his dreams of escaping the encroaching corporate agroBiz by moving to Idaho, when I told him how global warming is making annual monster wildfires the new normal there. I decided there’s no escape during my own attempt, when the quiet valley where I once enjoyed a -40F winter morning ten miles from the nearest neighbor was invaded by hunters on snowmobiles. Until we leave this life or at least this planet, maybe the only escape is to the sanctuary we always carry within us and with our loved ones.

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