John & Anne Wiley

2010/06/18

A Walk

Filed under: by Anne,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:27

I’m hoping Anne will start making more posts to our blog, but meanwhile I wanted to share some pix she took yesterday. While I was at our dentist on Coast Village, she walked to the Biltmore and along some of Butterfly Beach. It’s always fun for me to see how other people see, and her perspective in particular is of course fascinating to me. For example, I like how she snapped just one wing and the shadow of a bird (heron?) in this beach view.

0981 Beach Shadow

0981 Beach Shadow

I cropped this from her larger frame that included a few diaphanous clouds, in order to accent the bird. Such a beautiful town to live in with such a beautiful person, eh?

She also snapped several studies of this floral collection, and this one isn’t cropped though I did compensate somewhat for her compact camera.

0984 Floral Display

0984 Floral Display

I like how she features the yellow, yet includes the tiny white and blue flowers once you’re drawn in. As you may have noticed, pix from her camera are at a different numbering sequence (e.g. 0984 vs 7090 on my camera) though yesterday’s ground-level Courthouse snap was my idea on her camera. If you like her work, please consider posting a comment and/or using our Contact link near the upper right of every page. A little encouragement might get her snapping and posting more often. 🙂

2010/06/14

Molly Walks & Flies

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 23:37

Yesterday our precious god-daughter Molly “walked” at UCSB. That’s the term students use to summarize donning the traditional black cap and gown with various garnishments signifying special achievements. I’m proud to note that her uniform additions included a special sash and braid. Her walk was amid the faculty and administrators, and her seat was on the stage where she was introduced and given an award before she walked again for the diploma.

6935 Humble Excellence

6935 Molly is modest, unassuming, sweet, kind, patient and considerate

It was inspiring to hear the speeches and see the grads getting ready for the next phase of their lives. The ceremony was especially moving for us, since she flew out of SBA headed for Paris only a few hectic hours later. Oh how we will miss her!

As you might have noticed on the aerial photo, the audience included people watching from outside the seating area.

6963 Overflow

6963 Overflow

Some couldn’t get seats, and maybe others wanted a head-start on the massive end of ceremony exodus.

All over Isla Vista, both before and after this one among the series of many ceremonies, students were moving out. At the same time, new students were scoping out the logistics of moving in. Grads were selling furniture that incoming students were buying. With such a massive turnover of residents going on, I.V. was some combination of a bizarre swap meet, curbside estate recycling, hellos, goodbyes, and transcendent stress; all flowing in an easy dance of worry and compassion.

Having also attended the Masters Degree award of precious niece Erin a few years ago, UCSB has been forever transformed for us. Flying over, bicycling or strolling the area evokes strong memories and feelings, along with the stunning beauty of the place.

6013 I.V. & UCSB

6013 I.V. & UCSB

2010/06/13

Ceremonies Begin

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 07:57

In a few hours this will be us, so it was fun to fly over UCSB Saturday on a brief 5:30pm flight with family.

6865 UCSB Graduation 5:30pm 6/12/10

6865 UCSB Graduation 5:30pm 6/12/10

Anne’s guess is that we’re looking at thousands of people gathering to celebrate this batch of graduates. Congratulations are resounding all over campus and I.V., with ours added in for Molly.

2010/06/12

UCSB Graduation Runup

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 17:15
6791 Field of Dreams

6791 Field of Dreams

UCSB is ramping up for the annual series of graduations, with families arriving and students packing to leave. We attended a pre-grad awards ceremony yesterday, and it was deeply inspiring. Both the faculty and presenters’ speeches, and even more so the brief stories told about the students accepting awards. Such hope for our future as a country and world!

6792 Quiet Moment

6792 Quiet Moment

The whole campus had a quiet air of anticipation, and it was easy to imagine how it would feel when crowds gather in surges of “rush hour” traffic in one direction and then the other.

2010/06/11

Hope Ranch

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 18:53

We got an unusual routing over Hope Ranch from ATC after takeoff yesterday, and this old-style mansion really stands out.

6762 Stately Estate

6762 Stately Estate

I think this place near the eastern gate has been in construction for quite a while, and I wonder what it’s like for the neighbors.

6765 Hope Building

6765 Hope Building

Further to the East above Hendry’s (Arroyo Burro) beach, we got the opposite view of “Eyelash Hill” in the distance, beyond the blue-roofed place that is said to have something to do with the Shah of Iran.

6770 Another Eyelash

6770 Another Eyelash

We’re off to a grad event, so maybe I’ll post more pix from this flight later…

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