John & Anne Wiley

2011/11/19

Over Venice

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 10:53

I’d love to fly Tripp all over Europe, but probably the closest we’ll get is our recent detour over Venice. The one in L.A., that at least from the air has some of the romance found in Venice, Italy.

7659 Canals 'n Condos

7659 Canals 'n Condos

From what I’ve read (links in my Edhat article), this is quite an enchanting little corner of L.A. Hopefully someday soon we’ll get our tweaky tandem bike greased up and fly to Santa Monica for a ride along the beach to this little oddity of a housing tract.

7664 Up On The Roof

7664 Up On The Roof

We sang Under the Boardwalk once with friends on the sand below Santa Monica pier, and it looks like Venice would be a great place to practice Up On The Roof.

As an example of how much variety we see from the air, only a few minutes later as we passed Camp Pendleton this Apache helicopter passed far below us headed out to a ship offshore.

7709 Apache

7709 Apache

Flying is such a flood of delightful surprises and memorable moments!

2011/11/18

The Wheel

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random — John @ 12:49

Flying along the coast to L.A. usually provides us a look at the wheel on Santa Monica pier. I think this current Ferris wheel is a replacement for an older one that was bought and moved somewhere else. I’m glad it’s there, because any glimpse of that pier usually conjures images of all the times we’ve visited their airport (SMO); or the waterfront; or the Promenade.

7646 SMO Fun

7646 SMO Fun

The colors and activities there are a feast for the eye, so you can almost hear all the hubbub and laughter.

7648 The Wheel

7648 The Wheel

I recall as a kid the first ride on a Ferris wheel felt thrilling. Breathtaking to be so high, and feel the vertical motion. Now of course, it looks dinky. Still, looking down at one now is looking back into time from a different perspective that retains the thrill inside a much expanded vessel.

7652 Back In Time

7652 Back In Time

The big wheel turns anew for some child down there as we slip quietly past on wings of memory.

2011/11/17

Why Kuai?

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:17

Because it’s on the way to LA, we often fly near one of the quirkier estates in these parts. It’s over the hills South of the 101 freeway in an area often called Lake Sherwood. There are plenty of notable and unusual features to the property, but one in particular stands out for me: The River Kwai. Now for a billionaire I suppose it would be possible to haul enough water from Thailand to say that your estate has the Kwai on it. But the story is that this guy hired a helicopter to fly low and slow along the river, so he could point out his fave rocks. Then an expedition packed and shipped them to his California wonderland.

7618 Kwai Accents

7618 Kwai Accents

Lots of rocks. I think that’s one in the lawn at lower left. Sure he has pagodas with ponds and oriental bridges, a massive arboretum and orchid house, race horses and all that. But does anyone else in the world have a private collection of uprooted boulders from a spot across the planet?

7620 Ventura Farms

7620 Ventura Farms

The place is named Ventura Farms, though it’s pretty far from both the city of Ventura and what one typically associates with a farm. Why Kuai, I wonder? The book and or movie perhaps made a deep impression on David, who owns this place? Maybe he was involved in that WWII event in some way? Just likes how cool these sculpted stones look? More to the point though, why is this so fascinating to me that back in 2008 I’d already posted a different and larger aerial of it with links for info?

2011/11/16

How Much?

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random — John @ 02:35

How much does one family need? Some of the manses we see from the air, especially around SoCA, look more like resorts. Maybe some of them are, but most seem to be private estates and in such neighborhoods anyone trying to run a resort would meet community resistance. So is this a resort in the hills above Thousand Oaks?

7606 Home?

7606 Home?

You could walk in and scream, “Honey, I’m home!” But there could be a family of 12 there and still nobody near enough to hear you. Family life could be more like a neighborhood. But are all the deck chairs out by the pool for parties, family of 12 (actually there are more chairs than that), or is this a resort? The detailed topiary work at the top right might argue for resort, but parking could be an issue. I wouldn’t want to live there and deal with all the inside and outside help working every day to keep it so spiffy looking. I’m glad some people like that tho, because such beautiful playhouses are fun to see from the air.

2011/11/15

Walls

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 00:02

Flying can alter our perspective on walls. The boundaries we humans create to separate and isolate ourselves, must be all but invisible to birds as they are to aviators. Case in point, the zen sanctuary some gazillionaire has created behind these walls.

7572 Walled World

7572 Walled World

I’ve never noticed this spot on Butterfly Beach near the Biltmore that we drive and walk past, because we see only the wall from ground level. The birds don’t notice the wall, just as I haven’t before snapping this. Now that I’m looking, it’s fun to invent stories about why there are two large homes (and a pool house) inside that walled world. What’s the story on the tiny slice of a property to the right?

The wonderful Chase Palm Park on Cabrillo near Stearn’s Wharf is one of our fave spots to stroll. The carousel at one end and band shell at the other with duck pond between. The playground area’s rubber sidewalks are fun to bounce on, and there are always kids in the fanciful playground during daylight hours.

7594 Chase Wall

7594 Chase Wall

Kids just a few years older play on the other side of the wall, trying to stay ahead of the concerned citizens who paint out their graffiti. Most kids of all ages are oblivious to the birds and planes that transcend these shallow boundaries that can seem so impenetrable down there in the spell of gravity.

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