John & Anne Wiley

2010/06/29

A Few More

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 20:33

Just in case you’re not already overwhelmed with photos from Solstice, here are the last I’ll post this year (though Anne might still add a few of hers).

7510 Tired Angel

7510 Tired Angel

As everyone follows the last float to the party at Alameda Park, some exhausted kids get rides.

7512 Gentle Dance

7512 Gentle Dance

Some fairies still found energy for gentle dancing in the flow of celebration.

7523 Refreshments

7523 Refreshments

Large areas of the park are given over to food and drinks, while other parts have arts and crafts on sale.

7536 Free Play

7536 Free Play

Mostly though the parade party is about music, dancing, and freedom to play. There are so many different activities going on in different parts of the park, and all of it has this easy feeling of freedom and community.

7542 Infusion Into Town

7542 Infusion Into Town

The heightened colors, sounds and moods seem to gradually disperse across the city as people walk, ride and drive away from the park festival. For the rest of the weekend you’ll often see someone in face paint or costume, and occasionally glimpse a magic wand extending from someone’s sunroof.

Observations

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:02

We like the anticipation of Solstice every year, then the buildup and preparations, the parade itself of course, and another thing we deeply enjoy is watching the people who are in it and those on the street and up on balconies watching.

7433 Reflections

7433 Reflections

I like to see the exuberant essence of the parade reflected in the expressions of people watching, and in the shop windows behind them.

7443 Decorated Observer

7443 Decorated Observer

There are many who come to watch quietly in the background, who find themselves noticed – and decorated – by people wielding confetti-filled eggs or simply hand-tossed confetti. It’s a way that some observers anoint other observers into becoming participants themselves, in something they may have come only to watch.

7445 Family Time

7445 Family Time

When I was a child it was rare to see fathers closely involved with children. It warms my heart to see dads sharing the parade with small children. Memories are formed that will last a lifetime, and this gives me great hope for a future when people share citizenship and community with warmth and open hearts. In such a world we can work together, even when we disagree. We can respect our different ways of expressing our common humanity.

2010/06/28

Parade of People

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 02:40

The whole thing: buildup, parade, aftermath, party in the park, gatherings around town afterward… Solstice weekend in Santa Barbara is something we deeply enjoy.

So here then are more of my pix, and I’m still hoping Anne will share some of the great shots she caught. Keep in mind though, that most of our best memories are in our minds because often there’s no time to snap in the moment when you’re in the moment. Rather than focus on photography, we like to get fully caught up in the celebration.

2010/06/24

Right Seat

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,People,SB Region — Anne @ 00:20

I have some photos today.  This one of the point at UCSB was taken on 6-20 as we flew – John’s Father’s Day choice 🙂 – up the coast.  The context for the first two was “UCSB without Molly” – the campus looks different with her in Paris.  I appreciate how much more connected I feel to the campus from her having been here, and even more so with the graduation activities. Got a closer sense of the warm community life in IV as well.  So here is the Campus Point with students enjoying the beach:

0997 UCSB Campus Pt. beach

0997 UCSB Campus Pt. beach

This is a few seconds later.

0998 UCSB & SBA from Coast

0998 UCSB & SBA from Coast

Then this from the same flight, on the return.  I loved the clouds along the edge of the coast, and especially this view with the sliver of mountain top peeking through.  This looks toward Vandenburg from the valley between Lompoc and Buellton.

1017 Clouds peeking

1017 Clouds peeking

John’s encouraged me to post – thank you John!

2010/06/19

Carp and Back

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:52

Just half an hour of “engine time” this evening gave us almost an hour of transformative flying. We cruised slowly along the 101 toward Carpinteria, then climbed offshore for a look at the oil platforms. For some reason it’s been quite a while since we looked at them. Usually we’re over the water along the shoreline, or climbing much higher going over to the islands.

7095 Oil Platform

7095 Oil Platform

The shimmering seas remind me of that old TV series “Victory At Sea.”

Then we climbed over Carp toward the Santa Ynez range, deciding whether to cruise West up the valley.

7098 Hazy Hills

7098 Hazy Hills

A glance at the haze helped us choose a gliding descent back toward the Santa Barbara Harbor. At about Butterfly Beach or so I snapped the surf lineup waiting for the next set.

7100 Sunset Surfing

7100 Sunset Surfing

I like how the sand has been stirred into dirty puffs by the larger waves they’re waiting to ride. Sometimes clouds over the Salton Sea look like this, as if this were a view of the sky.

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