John & Anne Wiley

2010/10/10

Soft Sunset

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:58

We took a short and serene flight out to Montecito at sunset, and are still in a quiet mood. More people than usual were out for a sunset stroll at Hendry’s (Arroyo Burro) Beach as we quietly passed half a mile offshore, remembering enjoying a glance at passing planes on our own walks there.

1853 Hendry's Walkers

1853 Hendry's Walkers

Oprah’s fountain was on and lit, looking especially lovely. I think that’s a small amphitheater at the right.

1856 Oprah's Fountain

1856 Oprah's Fountain

I’ll probably put another pic or two on my Photo Page, and then maybe just meditate on happiness and contentment for a few minutes.

2010/10/06

Elect a New SBCC Board

Filed under: Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:14

I’m not a political sort of guy. Mostly I quietly follow the news and vote in private. No bumper stickers, yard signs, or canvassing. Tonight I’m fired up.

1795 New SBCC Board

1795 New SBCC Board

We attended a candidate forum downtown, and the slight hesitation I had about voting out the four incumbents is gone! Not just because the only two incumbents who showed up are either misinformed, misrepresenting the facts, or both. Not even because each of the four challengers (Macker, Haslund, Blum and Croninger) is a strong and articulate person I now support. More importantly I see this choice as one between incumbents who have presided over destruction of many educational programs our community needs, and four challengers who will repair that damage and go on to make the college stronger than ever. I’ve been involved in education and SBCC enough to know this is a crucial turning point, and our votes are needed.

I hope you’ll forgive my uncharacteristic political stand, join me in electing four new SBCC Board of Trustees we can trust, and share any comments or questions you may have.

2010/10/05

Sky Show

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 04:30

Sometimes the show from below rivals the spectacular shows we see from the sky, and Friday’s sunset was one of those. We noticed it from the living room and grabbed cameras for our evening walk up the hill. Stepping outside we were amazed by this “cockatoo” cloud exploding over the mountain.

1757 Cockatoo Cloud

1757 Cockatoo Cloud

Five minutes later it had completely transformed into a very different apparition of some white-haired creature with dark arms swimming over the mountains.

1758 Transformation

1758 Transformation

Another four minutes saw light gone from the mountains and color ebbing from the skies, leaving just a few orange-tinged cloud shapes to entertain us.

1767 Fading Colors

1767 Fading Colors

A few more minutes found us further up the hill, where we startled a bunny munching ice plant not far from the highway. I like how the flash makes the eyes look demonic, and this effect started a fun discussion in the comments to the version of this pic I submitted to Edhat.

1770 Vanishing Bunny

1770 Vanishing Bunny

It’s interesting to me that often I’ll spot bunnies or quail and be watching them when they suddenly dart for cover and startle Anne. She on the other hand will often point out interesting plants, flowers, and fruits along the way. Guess I’m the hunter, she’s the gatherer, eh?

We haven’t taken any pics since, having thought we’d be getting some great shots on our flight to San Diego for Dad’s birthday. Turned out the airport weather was not as predicted Sunday, and the fog was low enough it would have made for an interesting pic of the hills when it “lifted” to a few hundred feet allowing visibility of a mile or two. Today it’s been windy, so like our planned MerriTimes trip we’re glad to have skipped this one.

Tomorrow we hope to venture out, maybe get some pix, certainly do some errands, perhaps visit Tripp to try out a sample clip-on window deflector I made, and in the evening attend a college meeting that could be quite lively and interesting (where I also plan to get some pix). We’ve been helping some with posting info to the “C4” website, and we especially enjoyed Lynda’s letter posted today. It feels good to be making a contribution to the growing community effort that’s hoping to bring about positive changes in the college leadership, because so much of Anne’s hard work has been undone since she retired!

2010/09/28

Quiet Passage

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 18:13

Part of our Saturday flight from Bishop to San Jose was quiet. After passing Mammoth we turned toward the Hetch Hetchy valley, and that took us by the area I call the Minarets. There are several other named features here, and all are remarkably beautiful.

1368 Minarets

1368 Minarets

But among all the lakes and magnificent peaks, the jagged Minarets really stand out and instill in me a sense of quiet awe. Adding to my quiet this day was the knowledge that famed aviation adventurer Steve Fossett died here (see my Photo Page for details). Flying here can be challenging even when weather is good, so I had waited a long time for this clear and almost completely calm day. So mingled with the other sources of my inner quiet was a respect for both the power of this terrain, and for Steve’s skill in flying here so many times in difficult weather. I share his appreciation of this as a favorite place, but not his willingness to fly here on less favorable days. Flying even higher and more quietly than usual, I contemplated what a magnificent place this is to be forever connected with.

1372 Middle Panorama

1372 Middle Panorama

It might give you slightly more impression of the beauty here to see a broader panorama, so above is a photo taken about a mile from the first one and looking more toward the West.

1383 Toward Hetch Hetchy

1383 Toward Hetch Hetchy

This one’s also from the same general area, looking more toward the northwest where we flew over Hetch Hetchy valley. Imagine these three photos side by side, with #1372 in the middle and #1383 on the right. Now that you’re “flying” along with us, note that this is about a third of the panorama we were swimming in. More mountains in every direction, and Mono Lake visible in the distance behind us. Some places we’ve flown evoke gasps and joyful shouts, but here we were mostly in quiet reverie.

2010/09/23

Shine On Harvest Moon

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:34

Maybe that old song’s not stuck in your head now, but I kinda like it. Especially the part “for me and my gal.” We finally got to TJ’s for groceries at sunset. We’d used up supplies in anticipation of the MerriTimes Adventure so cooking was getting ever more difficult. Anyway, coming out of the store we joined several other people stopping to marvel at the rising Harvest Moon.

0507 Harvest Moon

0507 Harvest Moon

Here are a couple of other pix I just sent to Edhat, in case you don’t haunt that site like we do (or they don’t make it on because they have others).

1174~0508 Sunset Moonrise

1174~0508 Sunset Moonrise

The sunset was brilliant, snapped a couple of minutes after the moon/palm shot (both with the compact camera). Later I went outside with the SLR and caught the moon rising into a flowering tree.

Now I’m imagining the drum circle that’s probably going strong up at Knapp’s Castle. We’ve never gone to that, but several people have told us there’s a circle there and a few other places around town on every Solstice and Equinox. Anyway, with all the planetary coincidences tonight, may your dreams overflow with magic. 🙂

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