John & Anne Wiley

2013/09/16

Upward Mobility

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 01:24

I got to pondering old poems on the larger subject of this post while reviewing the last pix from our recent SF trip, starting with this little boat.

2763 Apex Icon

2763 Apex Icon

Anchored off Sausalito carrying several “dinghies” more valuable than our car, and probably costing more to operate for a day than our plane does for a year, this boat represents one archetype of upward mobility. But the view opens out to the quirky little city itself, where art mingles with wealth.

2764 Sausalito

2764 Sausalito

But more alive for me is the upward mobility brought by Tripp, as we rise above all this and beyond time itself in a way.

2777 Clear Lake

2777 Clear Lake

We were taking a quick afternoon trip to visit loved ones in Clear Lake before going home to Santa Barbara. Something impossible without an affordable trusty steed like Tripp. On the way home after our visit, the Bay shone in the hazy evening light illuminating another mobility. Upward from the past, when I wandered this area on the ground and savored the rare commercial flights that gave me a hasty glimpse of this scene through a milky plastic portal.

2798 SF Bay Evening

2798 SF Bay Evening

Looking back at an old barn among the golden hills of my youth brought a keen awareness of this upward arc.

2837 Sunset Farm

2837 Sunset Farm

Suddenly a few light squalls appeared alongside our route, and our steed easily climbed to find a way among them while treating us to a circular rainbow that we could only capture this slice of with the camera.

2841 Angel Eye

2841 Angel Eye

This view of heaven and earth is reserved for those who have chosen to devote at least the modest sum we’ve saved, to buy upward mobility of this kind. In a few minutes we were back in clear air and passing the familiar gently rolling hills of my California youth.

Golden light
Nectar, pouring through,
These hills.

2854 These Hills

2854 These Hills

My soul
Dipping
The warm burgundy
Wash of evening clouds
Mingling with
These hills.

2847 Clouds Mingling

2847 Clouds Mingling

       Mile 37
Let me notice
What quickens the heart.
Caress of a hand,
Shape of a hillock,
Sound of a breeze.

What catches the eye.
Lone tree on a ridge,
Flicker of a fleeting movement,
Impulse of a photograph in time.

2859 Nightfall to Dream

2859 Nightfall to Dream

2013/09/08

Bay Watch

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random — John @ 08:13

After our night in San Francisco the next few days we flew back to San Jose, then Oakland, San Jose, and Clear Lake before flying home. Here are a few of my fav pix from those flights.

2498 Salt Colors

2498 Salt Colors

The area around San Carlos has some spectacular salt flats. I guess the red may be marine life of some sort. I remember the Dumbarton Bridge from my years in the Bay Area, and though it never did get much respect I like the graceful arc it makes across the flats.

2495 Dumbarton

2495 Dumbarton

The day we visited a family war hero in San Leandro, the view past Oakland Airport to San Francisco looked even more striking than this pic conveys. I wish the camera could see what the eye does, and evoke what our hearts felt.

2533 Oakland To SF

2533 Oakland To SF

The day we flew to Clear Lake for a too short visit, passing over SF we got a great view of Washington Square where we’d enjoyed beer and conversation across the street.

2652 Washington Square

2652 Washington Square

I don’t think we’ve ever flown anywhere near this bridge without taking at least a few pix. I like how the towers flirt with the fog in this one.

2687 Golden Gate

2687 Golden Gate

I’ve always been fascinated by the Fine Arts Center, but have never visited it nor do I recall having noticed it from the air before. Now it’s added to the landmarks I’ll enjoy from the air, and is on our ToDo list for a future visit.

2693 Fine Arts

2693 Fine Arts

2013/08/29

Paradise

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 01:31

It was another magnificent day here in paradise (aka Santa Barbara), so we went flying with our visitor who’s here from Grants Pass. So beautiful!

2069 Goleta Beach

2069 Goleta Beach

From this moment after takeoff, and every moment until we landed again, the views were simply spectacular. Another visitor from out of town recently asked what’s the worst thing about living here. The honest answer was easy, “Leaving.”

2078 Butterfly Beach

2078 Butterfly Beach

2013/08/27

Round the Bend

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 08:28

I’m still pondering what it is about flying Manhattan and Monument Valley that makes those two places such precious memories among all the joys of our flying adventures. Another notion has to do with the delight of a child hugging the leg of an adult. I’m wondering if there are primal associations from childhood that resonate with our enjoyment of flying among skyscrapers and desert spires. Whatever the sources may be, I was ecstatic at the chance to finally fly around the tip of the city and up the East River.

3193 Looking Back

3193 Looking Back

After flying down the Hudson yet again, ATC cleared me to fly around the bend past Battery Park. In a couple of minutes we were looking back at the now familiar Hudson across “our” increasingly familiar city. There was the Brooklyn Bridge we’d ridden bikes out onto, some tall ships at the left evoking the early days here, and so many new places we now want to visit. Ahead we could see the Empire State and her children gathering to welcome us to this new perspective.

3197 Stately Gathering

3197 Stately Gathering

The always beckoning Park with the GW in the distance beyond seemed to reassure us that this new route would someday become another familiar path for our aerial visits.

3217 Approaching Return

3217 Approaching Return

I’d already been advised that we could soon turn to cross the Park and rejoin the Hudson for our return to White Plains, so I was both a little nervous at this First and very excited to see the Park so close.

3239 Park Bliss

3239 Park Bliss

Central Park has always been a particularly magical place for both of us, and has stood out among the sights on our aerial tours. So I was literally breathless at this new view. We even hoped to fly this route again some day, and it turns out we soon did!

2013/08/25

Magic

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 19:30

As I was looking through pix from our Islander Adventure to continue this review, I wondered why two quite different places are so powerfully magical to fly. Taking off from New Haven our hearts were filled with joy from our time with Molly & Dustin. Maybe that made the lighthouse more scenic.

2878 Haven Light

2878 Haven Light

A similarly scenic hour later we’d made a brief stop in White Plains and were passing this familiar bridge locals seem to call just “The GW.”

2899 George Washington Bridge

2899 George Washington Bridge

For us it marks one end of what is clearly one of our two most magical places to fly in North America. Of all the countless magnificent vistas our flying brings, Manhattan just stands out. Because we’ve explored Central Park several times, the joy of seeing this “heart” of NYC from the air is surely enhanced.

2910 Central Park

2910 Central Park

On every flight here there are fascinating things to notice, like the Space Shuttle joining the Concorde at the Intrepid Museum.

2919 Shuttle & Concorde

2919 Shuttle & Concorde

Another scene that evokes the “heart” of NYC is the area around the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, and of course Times Square.

2930 Empire State Setting

2930 Empire State Setting

In the past decade and some, the area around this new tower also expresses the “heart” of NYC.

2942 Sparkling Heart

2942 Sparkling Heart

For us the Heart of NYC is also found in the warm smiles of our precious friends Bob & Enid, whom we’d picked up in White Plains.

3111 Shared Joy

3111 Shared Joy

All these delights contrast with the austere magnificence of Monument Valley where we’ve never visited on the ground and don’t yet have friends. So why are these two places so powerfully magical to fly that they stand out from all our other memories? Could it be that when we wander among tall buildings or towering spires, we are a newborn passed between friendly giants? Flying low enough to experience the planet in three dimensions is to feel yourself intimate with the earth, but not bound by it. Freedom in relationship.

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