John & Anne Wiley

2013/08/07

Confession

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,Relationships — John @ 19:06

As I shared back on April 18th, we loved exploring Annapolis on a bright Spring day as exemplified in this snap by Anne.

0533 Annapolis Spring

0533 Annapolis Spring

I did mention our dance with weather flying to NYC a few hours later, in the post I did here that night. But I didn’t show you the full story. The flight started off in great weather, and we stayed low to enjoy scenes like this paradise point for boaters near Bay Bridge.

2745 Boater Bungalows

2745 Boater Bungalows

Lucky pilots have homes next to a runway with airplanes in their garages, so I can imagine the boaters in these homes being just as happy. As I hinted in my earlier post tho, 15 minutes after takeoff I was no longer relaxed because the scene had changed to this.

2758 Weather Change

2758 Weather Change

That bank of clouds at the top is the edge of a wide swath I’d climbed to fly over, thinking based on weather reports that it was just a local fluke. But ahead were more clouds, so in this pic I’m descending to see if the base of the clouds is low enough to fly under. It wasn’t. By now I was very busy exploring options, listening to local airport weather reports and talking with ATC while climbing high again to add visual details on the changing weather.

2759 Up Again

2759 Up Again

That tiny white cloud you may not have noticed near the top was a clue for me that we needed to either choose a nearby airport, or find another route to NYC. Luckily, by now we were only a few minutes’ flight from the coast and a friendly airliner overheard my convo with ATC. He said, “We just took off out over the coast and the sky is totally clear along the shoreline to NYC.” As I made a climbing turn toward the coast to go extra far over the top of the low clouds, I told ATC of my plan. I knew that we still had plenty of options because there are many airports in this area. We were rewarded with this friendly scene.

2761 Seaside Heights, NJ

2761 Seaside Heights, NJ

The golden glow of afternoon sun shone through a hole in the clouds as if to welcome us. I didn’t realize then that this is where hurricane Sandy had devastated the Jersey Shore (just above this pic is where the fire was).

I named this post Confession because I didn’t fully share at the time that I’d been cautious about the weather changing from the great forecast. What I was starting to see nearby had me vigilantly keeping at least three clear airports within a couple of minutes’ flight. See, some of our loved ones are terrified of flying. So while we were on our long flying wander across the continent, I didn’t want to chance increasing their concerns. Not because there was really any risk, but in case they might worry while we were traveling.

After passing several more airports, we were cozy at Linden in a few minutes. There, feels good to get that off my chest and savor a few more pix. 🙂

2013/08/05

Merry Land (2)

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random — John @ 04:36

Reviewing more Islander pix, I found this mysterious mansion. Is it a resort? A clubhouse for everyone who lives on Bennet Point or maybe just Kilby Point? Here’s a wide shot of the point.

2678 Kilby/Bennet Pt, MD

2678 Kilby/Bennet Pt, MD

What got my attention is the round building with blue “happy face” below it. Here’s a closer look.

2679 Blue Happy Face

2679 Blue Happy Face

So both the square building next to it and the red-roofed one at the left look like resorts. Maybe they’re actually mansions? Judging by the condition of the swimming pool and that blue patio roof (click for larger version), maybe the happy face isn’t so happy lately? Love that little island bridge at the bottom-right, the tiny log cabin right of the “lodge” plus of course the pool and its bridge.

Wonder what the story is. When was it first built and what stories have unfolded there over the years since? How many people have sat at those picnic tables in the shade of the trees above the roundhouse, wearing their own serene happy face. How many marriages and honeymoons might have included time here? My heart and mind are drawn into this scene. So many interesting places like this we’ve noticed along our flying meanders. 🙂

2013/07/30

Twins Flight

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,People,Random — John @ 06:47

It’s fun to go thru pix from our Islander Adventure again, because each time I do it some different images and themes emerge. This time, skipping ahead several days from my last post, it was the flight from Charleston to St. Marys that stood out. In particular these three pix on the theme of twins. First this twin-engine Osprey that was waiting next to the runway as we flew over.

2592 Osprey Waiting

2592 Osprey Waiting

Tho we were fascinated with their airplane, they didn’t even glance up at Tripp. Probably too focused on their training mission from some nearby military base I guess. Fun to see this view of one poised for a leap into the air.

2610 Twin Survivors

2610 Twin Survivors

Out among miles of giant corporate farms, these two trees have somehow managed to survive from the days when a lonely farmer planted them for shade. Maybe the workers driving huge tractors still pull up there for lunch, and have quietly saved them from the plow for that purpose. Then a scene that to me matches this mood and takes it further while also matching the pic of another farm house that I posted last time from this flight, so I can stretch this one to be a twin for today’s theme.

2614 Remains of the Day

2614 Remains of the Day

You might not be able to tell from this small pic (click for larger), but this is all that remains of a farmer’s hand. It too has somehow survived abandoned along with a few trees, a patch of grass, and a few rows where someone apparently grows veggies next to where they park some equipment. Looking out across the expanse I wondered if there had once been dozens of little farms, each with a few buildings and many stories back to when tribes wandered here. So few lives are long remembered, and so many more are soon forgotten.

2013/07/25

Coast To Hartwell

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random — John @ 21:04

It’s a tiny bit like flying our Islander Adventure all over again, reviewing our pix in more detail. Some like this one just leap out to me, making it apparent why I chose to snap a particular view.

1662 Shadows & Light

1662 Shadows & Light

I love the interplay of shadows and light on water, sand and various sources of green with all softened by haze and the broken clouds above. Most of the Florida and Georgia coast looks like this area just north of St. Augustine, with an ancient yet forever renewed essence.

Soon we passed the Mayport Naval Base, where centuries of human effort have transformed soft curves into angular concrete asserting into the flow of wind and sand.

1667 Mayport Edges

1667 Mayport Edges

Two minutes later we’ve leaped millennia back to the yielding shore, shaped by powerful and inexorable forces in light unseen by human eye.

1671 Now & Then

1671 Now & Then

Soon after that, recent history is reflected in Fort Clinch where armies dwelt in relative peace as wars raged like the storms that have come and gone.

1674 Fort Clinch

1674 Fort Clinch

Many places on this coast have tidal marshes like this, and I seem to find endless fascination in shapes and colors that form the texture of this complex life form.

1687 Life Etching

1687 Life Etching

As shadows begin to lengthen we pass a fisherman’s lonely tree-sheltered outpost on a spit of land in this vast sea of grass.

1690 Sanctuary

1690 Sanctuary

There is to me a slow quiet captured in the boat tied to that dock near the point of a rusty metal roof in the wood. It whispers to me of other days when wind howled, hammering that home and testing the trees while waves chomped on the shore.

After this lazy flight along the edge of the Old South we at last reached the fading glow of Hartwell as sunset played on this small town story at the corner of Carter & Howell.

1729 Hartwell, GA

1729 Hartwell, GA

From the tall spire on an old church at the top this tale passes a proud City Hall, police and fire, to land on the low shape of McDonald’s that much of the town frequents these days as time marches on.

2013/07/21

Diz (2)

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,People,Random — John @ 05:07

Somehow Summer sneaks up on you sometimes. Seems we’ve been very busy lately, and not posting new words & pix for you here. Well here’s more from our Islander Adventure, this time skipping ahead from our Keys flight until we flew over Disney World. Looking at the pix again, I became fascinated by the “backstage” areas. Take a look at this mountain ride, for example.

6203 Mountain Ride

6203 Mountain Ride

The construction area top-left is out of view to the ride and the walking mall along the water, as is the big building at the bottom and the road beyond. We’re told that these areas are called “backstage” by Diz, and only seen by the “cast members” (who include everyone from trash collectors to movie stars). Another place I saw this “hide” of the backstage from visitors was near our hotel.

6251 Hotel Hide

6251 Hotel Hide

Our room was at the top of this pic, across the lake. We walked along that wide promenade and across the bridge at the bottom of the pic. Just before the bridge we wondered how far the “forest” goes, at the bottom-center. From up here we could see that it’s pretty small, but more surprising to me is the road on the other (left) side. It cuts down into the ground to actually pass thru a tunnel beneath the “river” going to the left where the long boats are. We rode the boat once, but also walked to the left on this side of the bridge, and then across the next bridge in the pic below.

6248 Backstage

6248 Backstage

Never did we suspect that cars and buses were passing beneath us. Nor did we glimpse the large backstage areas clearly visible across the top and at the bottom-right. Somehow it reminds me of that old movie “Truman Show” where it feels like you’re in a large world, but are in fact wandering on a giant stage populated by actors. We watched the fireworks from that little island across the second bridge. We also walked further to the left into this next pic.

6267 Epcot

6267 Epcot

We explored many of the attractions there, including the Epcot dome I’ve wondered about for so long. It houses a ride that reminds me of the old Monsanto ride in L.A.’s Disneyland. It too seemed big (tho much smaller than I had imagined it), but is in fact part of a small world after all. Again, you can see some backstage areas across the bottom. This entire park is really fascinating, and quite an example of what disciplined creativity can accomplish by engaging our imagination. Maybe in some ways our American Life is a much larger and less refined version of this. As with many of my posts, you can see larger versions of these pix by clicking on them. Like me, you may find it interesting to examine details.

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