Before we flew in small planes more than once every ten years or so, we used to get a Big Sur effect. That’s where we’re driving South along that enchanted road, and one of us suddenly takes an involuntary deep breath. We’d take that drive every few years just for the deep joy of it. The Sighs. Well now it happens pretty much every time we fly. It’s much more frequent than on those drives though. Scenes like this, that would greet airline passengers if they weren’t going so fast and had a panoramic view like ours.
0437 SBA View
The new terminal building is lovely, but in this fuller context it really glows. I’ve learned to snap scenes like this without looking, using one hand. I like how they refresh the memory of the moment before that triggered my snap. A camera impulse that goes from eye to shutter finger with minimal thought. Often accompanied by a sigh, both when I snap and when I look at the result back on the ground later. Here’s another:
0438 Pier to Point
We fly past the Goleta Pier on nearly every flight from SBA, and it seldom passes without a sigh and the snap impulse. I usually suppress the snap because I have so many. Out the other side, Anne is dreamily watching UCSB and the view West. Often a wordless smile passes between us. There’s a sound that sums it up for us better than words: “Sigh…”
John & Anne Wiley 
You must be logged in to post a comment.