John & Anne Wiley

2014/01/05

Rock Art

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 09:16

The mountains are overflowing with rock formations sculpted by time and elements. I like how the shapes on this low ridge stand out against the shaded canyon beyond.

0588 Ridge Art

0588 Ridge Art

Some rocks have ancient art on them, put there by people thousands of years ago. Other rocks bear the mark of more recent human activity.

0595 Art, Politics, or...?

0595 Art, Politics, or…?

I wonder who marked this stone high in the mountains, and when. I wonder how many people have seen it, and what their reactions have been. I wonder if the person(s) who put it there have ever gone back, and where they are now.
Followup: I submitted a version of the peace symbol pic and it led to an interesting discussion in Comments there.

2013/12/31

Happiness Is

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 22:42

We took Molly to the fascinating SB Historical Museum during her visit here Saturday, and I sat a moment with a quiet 90-something man named Carl. At one point I asked what he’s learned in his years and he replied, “I choose Happiness.”

0535 Happiness Is

0535 Happiness Is

He said that by consciously choosing happiness, his life has been greatly enriched. Especially in aging as his contemporaries increasingly chose to focus on decreasing capacity and grumble about encroaching aches and pains.

As we glided down into SBA from one of our flights north this week for fun with family and friends, I thought about happiness noticing the people gathering to watch the sunset atop the peak. Here at the popular Lizard’s Mouth we’d discovered recently (see below), there’s a certain celebration of passages. The end of each day, the start of the next, engagements, solstices and equinoxes, birthdays and memorials, probably even some weddings are celebrated here. Coming here is one of the countless ways some people choose, create and celebrate their Happiness.

May we help each other remember
to choose Happiness,
and may we celebrate together
the joys we have shared,
and anticipate with delight
the coming surprises we welcome.

Happy 2014!

🙂 🙂

2013/12/23

Sisses, Bros, & Phone Religions

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 22:30

Sisters
We’re lucky. Anne and I are among those who enjoy warm relationships with our sisters. This is especially nice during the holiday season, when so many of our friends dread difficult times with family. Plus we get to enjoy brief forays into the enchanted realm of Flight, going to visit.

0039 Over LA

0039 Over LA

After so many tormented drives on LA “free” ways to/from San Diego sisters, it’s such a contrast to be truly Free as we happily look down on all that smog and congestion. Occasionally we fly along the mountains, but usually we enjoy the coastal route where people have built dream mansions on the outskirts of the LA nightmare.

0085 Beach Billions

0085 Beach Billions

Not far from Laguna Niguel are mansions (surely very expensive) with private salt water swimming pools on the bluffs.

Brothers
I mentioned Bros in the title because although we each have three sisters and no brothers, we’re lucky in this regard too. First because we have great brothers in law whom we enjoy. Secondly because I had the great good fortune to enjoy a few years with Chris, my “brother” in the wonderful BBBS program.

Crazy With Chris

Crazy With Chris

We had so many fun times during those short years before he sadly moved away. We got to experience the deep caring of brothers we’d both missed out on. So it was delightful to hear from him today that he has a new “Smart” phone and might now be able to be in touch more again. That is, if he can figure out how to work what might actually be a more frustrating model than the ones Anne and I just got.

Religion
In texting with him about it today I realized that smartphones are a new religion.  Smartphones teach us patience and submission, and the fact that an all-powerful entity knows our every thought and action. It seems that Chris, Anne and I are not devotees. 🙂

2013/12/18

Lizard’s Mouth

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 04:06

Right now for some reason the name somehow evokes the smell of recently eaten insects on the breath of some reptile. But in fact Lizard’s Mouth is one of our young Sarah’s fav local hangouts. Several times she’s wanted to take us there for a hike and scramble among the rocks. Now we better understand why.

7465 Lizard's Mouth

7465 Lizard’s Mouth

In the hour before sunset people were gathering for the show, which is surely spectacular there. This whole area of the mountainside is strewn with fascinating rock formations, and we’re enjoying looking thru the pix we snapped as we glided quietly by angling down toward SB. A mile or two East is another “rock garden” area with many silent stone sculptures.

7442 Another Rock Garden

7442 Another Rock Garden

My fav rock garden is actually several miles west of Lizard Rock, with another good rock garden between (so many rocks, so little time). But on this particular passage by this one, one clump of boulders caught my attention.

7441 Holey Rocks

7441 Holey Rocks

Unlike many “holey rocks” in our hills, these don’t seem to have been carved out by native peoples pounding acorns centuries ago. Instead my guess is these holes were carved by natural forces. Perhaps when they were on the sea floor, or as they rose thousands of feet along with what are now our mountains and were perhaps in a river for a time. Or maybe just soft areas in the sandstone yielded to the relatively light rainfall here over millennia. Sometimes taking in sculptures like these I imagine a time-lapse view of how features emerged in the ebb and flow of terrain and flickering surges of life between flashes of fire to etch textures of time on stone.

2013/12/06

Shadows

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 08:53

At the end of a recent flight as we taxied back to Tripp’s parking spot, I was captivated by our shadow.

6372 Tripp Shadow

6372 Tripp Shadow

Looking at it now gets me pondering shadows back into the past. Not just other flights earlier this year when our shadow passed across other people very involved in the different things they were doing, and only a rare few even notice our shadow crossing theirs.

3252 Shadows Crossing

3252 Shadows Crossing

My mind wandered back to childhood when my shadow was first so fascinating, and it crossed paths with the shadow of my departed Dad who also loved to fly. I’m often aware of the shadow his flying lessons cast forward across the decades, increasing my resolve to learn.

50 Past Shadows

50 Past Shadows

Even further back, before I was born my grandfather’s shadow as an aviator often passed across the landscape as mine now does.

36 Grandfather's Shadow

36 Grandfather’s Shadow

As they are cast from yesterday to today and out across tomorrow, how are the people and places our shadows touch, affected by our passing?

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