John & Anne Wiley

2012/06/03

Old California

Walking the mission area is relaxing, connecting with how it was here in past centuries. Yet we often discover something that’s new to us. This bell tower between the mission front and the seminary might have once housed the bells.

0541 Missing Bells

0541 Missing Bells

The big fountain in front of the mission is an ageless magnet for kids, and their watchful parents who navigate that ageless line between protection and freedom as their child teeters along the wall or leans to splash.

0544 Water Child

0544 Water Child

This visit, a new fascination for me was the sculptures over the mission roof. I like how the afternoon light played on the top one.

0545 Roof People

0545 Roof People

I presume her anchor honors the maritime history of Santa Barbara, and the brave souls lost at sea over the years.

0545 Anchor

0545 Anchor

From the front her anchor is invisible, and her visage changes. Probably more religious in theme, yet to me this could be a contemporary young woman in a hoodie engaged in quiet conversation.

0551 Quiet Maiden

0551 Quiet Maiden

Across the street on the expanse of lawn next to the rose garden, some young maidens were enjoying themselves, the weather, the setting and each other in just such a dialog at this gentle place where old California is renewed.

0559 Relaxed Conversation

0559 Relaxed Conversation

2012/05/27

Fresh

Spring is fresh and green here. Farmer’s markets abound, with one somewhere around town most every day of the week. One of the most colorful is the Saturday market downtown, and the first sign we saw approaching it yesterday was the people carrying fresh local flowers as they headed home on the street.

0234 Colors for Home

0234 Colors for Home

Among the many carefully adorned stalls, the people are colorful too. This woman with young child and a box of fresh organic local strawberries kindly paused for my camera.

0232 Wholesome

0232 Wholesome

To me this pic could be Europe, and it also has fresh flavors of times long past. Or an advertisement for wholesome food to nourish your family. A few minutes later nearing home we stopped to admire the crisp mountain view and a swallow dancing between insect snacks in the clear Spring air.

0235 Cloud, Bird, Mountain

0235 Cloud, Bird, Mountain

Strolling amid the bright smell of pepper trees, I contemplated moments and memories. Every season overflows with moments, each so precious yet most not noticed. Some become memories, and some are chosen by an unknown formula to become pix that can represent an essence of our memories or maybe trigger an impulse in us to take yet another fresh look around.

0240 Fresh Look

0240 Fresh Look

2012/05/12

Flight

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 21:47

We attended the Anaheim (actually in Orange) 2012 IASC conference Thursday where our pilot war hero Dad was inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame for his pioneering production of the “Humco Surfer” skateboard from 1963-5. Quite an amazing guy. Can you tell we’re proud? 🙂

0064 Humco Surfer Dude

0064 Humco Surfer Dude

Friday before heading to the airport we heard that some pro skaters were riffing at a skate park across the street, and I managed to get some pix like this on a new camera I’m learning to use (several more/larger pix on the Photo Page link in the right column).

0259 Wingless Flight

0259 Wingless Flight

Looking at a guy getting serious air like this got me thinking about some common threads in Dad’s story: courage, creativity and flight.

2012/05/06

Super Moon SB

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 05:05

I got a new camera from my Dad this evening. Though he passed many years ago, I’ve had his pickup truck (named Tonk) as a memento. I sold it a few weeks ago, and now the money from that has bought a Nikon D5100. So tonight we flew over town to snap the Supermoon and check out the remarkable low light capability of this camera.

0036 SB Supermoon

0036 SB Supermoon

Looking at the pix from the flight, I was enjoying how much better they came out than any ever taken with my old D40. But there was still quite a bit of grain and color noise, which surprised me. Then I looked at the camera and discovered I’d picked up a D3100 by mistake! Still better than the old one, but the 5100 is reputed to be remarkably better. So tomorrow maybe I’ll take it back and see what Dad really bought me. 🙂

2012/05/05

SoCal Glacier

Most times when we fly past La Conchita, I glance at the quiet little enclave near Carp and recall the headlines about the fatal landslide that took out some homes. The day of this pic I was also looking at the distant snow-capped peaks.

1778 La Conchita

1778 La Conchita

You can see the slide area at the bottom-right, in the missing rows of homes in the rectangular grid pattern. The distant snow got me pondering glaciers, and the glacier-like aspects of some landslides. Rather than race suddenly down the slope, many SoCal slides happen over several minutes, hours, or even days. This one was relatively fast, perhaps due to the fact it happened after a long period of heavy rains and was at least partly a mudslide. Looking at the aftermath, a heavy feeling in my heart mingles with a serene sense of the inevitable. Each of us and all our possessions will be buried in time, and I hope the examples set by our fathers will help me greet the end with a peaceful and dignified spirit.

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