Random | John & Anne Wiley

2010/07/03

Big Red Tide

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,Random — Anne @ 08:38

I was amazed at the amount of red tide we saw today. We have seen red tide from the air before, but never near this amount. ~ Anne

1204-Big Red Tide

Note: this is the eastern shore of El Capitan State Beach.

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Joy Day

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

Today we celebrated the joy of our first “official” flight alone together (the day I earned my license 7/2/06), by flying our friend Joy to celebrate her birthday. As the date portended, it was a joyful flight! Shorter than we planned, due to minor delays getting aloft and major winds once we reached Gaviota Pass. So rather than climb above the turbulence and fly too far above earth to most richly enjoy it, we stayed low along the coast in the lee of the mountains for a leisurely return to SBA.

7566 Oil Seeps

There were some oil seeps close to shore, and later we saw an intense “red tide” as reported in my post about the flight on Edhat.com (see the right column link here for more of my posts there).

7581 Pass Pad

Just to the west of Gaviota Pass is a concrete pad and three green tanks, as if someone is planning to build a home or perhaps park a modular home there. We had planned to fly out and look for whales at Point Conception (barely visible in the distance), but we’ll try again another day.

7577 Dolphin Phun

We had a lot of “phun” watching several different dolphin feeding activites. In this one you can see that some of them swim on their backs, and how closely involved the pelicans get. I’ve posted a few more pix from the flight on my Photo Page, so click on the link in the column at the right to see those.

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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

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

7512 Gentle Dance

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

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

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

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.

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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

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

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

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.

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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.