John & Anne Wiley

2012/07/14

Later

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 07:56

Often I see something from the air that’s interesting for some reason, so I snap it to look at later. Well it’s much later than June 30th when I snapped this one, but it now looks like some sort of rodeo. I’ve sent a copy to Edhat in case someone there can tell us more about what it was exactly.

0994 Rodeo?

0994 Rodeo?

It’s near the river in the valley west of Santa Paula. Another pic I’m enjoying later is this one from the flight home. The darker point in the distance is Santa Barbara, and the dim one beyond is Point Conception.

0996 Coast Home

0996 Coast Home

It’s such a delight flying in this region because you have ocean, islands, mountains valleys and deserts all within a short flight. Oh, and the usually glorious pleasant weather. 🙂

2012/07/13

Maturity

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 01:36

When I was younger it was refreshing when parked in a traffic jam, to see a small plane fly past. I’d imagine myself up there effortlessly going somewhere in the cool air, looking at grand vistas, and oblivious to the frustrated drivers idling on hot asphalt. Now I’m living that dream, except I’m not oblivious to the highway. Instead it’s common for me to smile or even smirk at the traffic jams. Somehow my maturity hasn’t advanced to the level of keeping an impassive demeanor. 🙂

3117 Gaviota Traffic

3117 Gaviota Traffic

You can find more words and pix about this on Edhat and my Photo Page, but I wanted to also mention here that we were actually on that highway four hours before. This morning we rode with friends out to the cute little blueberry farm just this side of Buellton.

0123 Berry Patch

0123 Berry Patch

A few years ago a very nice man cut an inch square piece out of my cheek. Basal cell I think he called it, and though it healed with no scar it did leave a scary memory. Since I detest sunscreen, I avoid sun whenever possible, wear a hat, and when doing activities like this cast aside any vestige of pride and take a beach umbrella.

0116 Solphobia

0116 Solphobia

It may seem surprising, but only one person commented on this goofy looking fat man trying to blend in with the normal berry fans. It was the gal at the pay booth who said what a great idea it is. Of course, she was just being nice. 🙂

0117 Granite Berries

0117 Granite Berries

I overhead a mom tell her friend who was enjoying watching a toddler, “He’s been picking up rocks and eating those too.” Maybe he was inspired by the fact I was showing a similar level of maturity by sampling prodigious numbers of blueberries from my own bucket every time it started to fill up. Maybe if I could reach the age of this tree, I’d not only achieve maturity but even wisdom.

0102 Wise Tree

0102 Wise Tree

2012/07/12

Tar Babies

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 07:55

California is a car kingdom. Without a car in many parts of this state, mobility can be a major hassle. Of course, the “free” ways are often at a standstill too so in some ways mobility can be a major hassle even with a car. Here in SB it’s not a big deal for most people, but those who commute to and from here can face an unpredictable drive. Many locals don’t know how much our car culture literally arose from the ground around here. Here’s a remnant by way of example.

0935 Petro Past

0935 Petro Past

Black gold used to literally bubble out of the ground in many places. This tar seep from the sandstone bluffs near More Mesa used to be joined by many more before most of the petroleum was drained by countless wells. Walking the beaches still often ends up with your feet dotted with tar babies. I recently started enjoying the shapes and textures of these big tar blobs, so you’ll probably see more like this here in the future.

0936 Beach Blob

0936 Beach Blob

If you look closely on the beach to the right of the blue towel, you might make out some people to show the scale of these blobs. They look like sleeping giants that could rise up and swallow those beach goers, and maybe ooze up the hill to go rampaging through town gobbling up SUVs. Thankfully, they seem content to slumber.

2012/07/11

Color Carpets

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,SB Region — Anne @ 07:40

Colorful carpets suddenly popped into view over Lompoc this weekend, this one delightfully out my side of the plane.

3040 River of Color

3040 River of Color

The color was remarkable and I love the shapes that form that would not be obvious from a ground view.

3042 Color Burst

3042 Color Burst

The birds-eye views we are so fortunate to view are truly spectacular.

3041 Idaho Flipped

3041 Idaho Flipped

Views from above sometimes reveal shapes reminiscent of other shapes and this yellow one reminds me of a map of Idaho, reversed.  Every flight is so enchantingly different, one from the other…

~by Anne

2012/07/06

Boundaries

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 09:03

I like how boundaries are affected by air. From above, many impassable boundaries like borders and fences are irrelevant. Other boundaries appear where none show on maps. Some are sharply drawn.

0852 One & Many

0852 One & Many

Seldom do you see straight lines like these, except by the hand of humans. Boundaries can enhance the beauty by pointing out differences in number, kind, color and other variables.

0854 Liquid & Solid

0854 Liquid & Solid

Right in Lompoc it seems salt water is pumped from the ocean several miles away and turned into rock salt by the sun. The boundaries between four ponds produce different colors and textures as each dries in turn. Even boundaries in time are visible.

0856 Then & Now

0856 Then & Now

Millions of years ago when this was sea floor, tiny diatoms died and their porous shells piled up. The diatomaceous earth their shells formed was mined here in the 1960s to improve the efficiency of swimming pool filters. Now a quiet pond nurtures trees and attracts many other forms of life that tread on that ancient seabed. Nearby are boundaries between oak forest and hay field.

0858 Field & Forest

0858 Field & Forest

All around are many similar boundaries, and larger boundaries between river banks. Boundaries between flat and undulating earth.

0855 Valley & Hill

0855 Valley & Hill

Flight expands the horizons, so that aviators more than most are aware of how we live in boundaries between earth and atmosphere.

0860 Land & Air

0860 Land & Air

People create and defend boundaries between themselves in relationships, groups and nations. If everyone occasionally spent some time contemplatively flying low in small planes, might it help to make the space between us more flexible, permeable and peaceful?

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.