John & Anne Wiley

2014/02/24

Water Works

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:26

Water works miracles. As in this Ventura area contrast between a dry brown open field and the irrigated green park next door.

8246 Worlds Apart Adjoined

8246 Worlds Apart Adjoined

Here in California and other U.S. states with areas of fertile land but little rain have fed the world thanks to irrigation. But farmers in Israel and other desert regions have pioneered extremes of frugal water use. Now we see ever more signs of water conservation flying in our area, like this shiny field between Ventura and Santa Paula.

8247 Shiny Field

8247 Shiny Field

By covering the ground with plastic and using drip irrigation, this farmer may have actually increased the yield while using less water. Another contrast may be seen in this last snap from some Anne got as we approached Santa Paula Airport. The golf course shines like a beacon of life nestled between the dry riverbed across the bottom, with the parched hills above sporting a few patches of orchard, and “SP” proclaimed near the summit.

8258 Oases

8258 Oases

2014/02/22

Symmetry

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 08:19

I like the symmetry of this scene we flew past today.

2417 Symmetry

2417 Symmetry

The plain open box that’s presumably an apartment building is so complemented by the row of junipers at the entrance. Then add the way they form a line in ascending height. I wondered for a moment if they were planted in sequence, but almost certainly trimmed that way. What a great idea. So much more creative than all the same, or trimmed into a tall green wall. Whose idea was it? Owner? Manager? Landscape designer, maybe? My guess is a gardener with an artistic eye.

2014/02/19

Big Little vDay

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 09:17

We had another wonderful Valentine’s Day this year, with another visit from our daughter and family. The little one melted our hearts, as you can see. 🙂

1783 Heart Melter

1783 Heart Melter

After a wild week of fun, the last of our extended family left Monday afternoon. We decided to get some air in our hair to ease our transition back to a quiet house. One of the new sights on this flight was what looks like a ferro-cement house in the hills. Probably would survive a wildfire, and the inside’s probably fanciful too. I’ll bet the residents love it.

2208 Hobbit Home

2208 Hobbit Home

Life and love take so many forms.

2014/02/11

Forward & Back

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 19:51

Taking off from SBA a few weeks ago, I looked forward along the magical route toward town.

1216 Forward

1216 Forward

Then I turned and looked back toward the airport where our brief enchanted journey had begun.

1220 Back

1220 Back

On that day we were also looking forward to a visit from our daughter and family. Today we’re already looking back at the joy of deep conversation last night and waking with them in our home this morning. Especially our delightful grand daughter. 🙂

114147 Forward & Back

114147 Forward & Back

Now we’re looking forward to watching the little one continue growing into a charming little girl, back to when our daughter was her size, and ahead to more great times with our son-in-law. Including taking him flying today! 🙂

2014/02/04

Up & Down

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 08:05

Today we flew our dear NYC friends out to nearby Santa Cruz Island, and as always it was fun both being with them and visiting our seldom seen park. We got a new view of this one among the numerous rock arches among the sea caves and other natural wonders of this place.

1537 Santa Cruz Arch

1537 Santa Cruz Arch

We got a new view east along the backbone of the island with little Anacapa Island in the distance.

1565 Island Backbone

1565 Island Backbone

After enjoying many new views of this ever-new place we stopped for lunch at the aviation-themed restaurant on Camarillo Airport. Then an enchanted flight home to SBA and a sunset hike down this trail near our place.

1621 Into Art

1621 Into Art

Like the rest of our day, this felt like a journey into art, with conversation bubbling along the trail just as water has bubbled along the rocky stream there on our wet season hikes there.

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