John & Anne Wiley

2011/08/19

Stanley, Presumably

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,Smiley Adventure — John @ 01:28

When we fly into a small town, people often think we’re rich. Then they ask where we’re from, and modestly replying Santa Barbara seals their mis-impression. So flying into Stanley was a nice change, because people there were somehow taking it all in stride. This morning we woke early and watched sunrise paint the Sawtooths behind our surprisingly cozy teepees.

3931 Smiley Dawn

3931 Smiley Dawn

Did you notice the three teepees in yesterday’s pic of our approach to Smiley Creek? You might also notice the two Harleys in this pic, belonging to the sweet couple from Utah who slept on the right with us in the middle and Julie at the left. After a wonderful breakfast of home made granola, the gals made the short drive to Stanley while I flew solo to meet them at the airport there. Being late morning, the air was still fairly cool and with all our camping gear in Julie’s car Tripp was light and frisky. So though there were enough thermals to make for a somewhat bouncy ride, I rode a big one up to 12,500′ for a better look at the mountains and Redfish Lake (Stanley’s in the distance beyond the end of the lake).

3994 Redfish Lake

3994 Redfish Lake

Of even more interest to me were the zillions of alpine lakes like this, many clearly nestled where glaciers slumbered until a moment ago in geological time.

4016 High Lake

4016 High Lake

I like the colors amid the gray crags, and the traces of tough trees trying to stretch their march up the mountains. Several lakes had magnificent waterfalls like this next one.

4036 Cascading Lake

4036 Cascading Lake

We drove together from Stanley out to Redfish Lake where we met Julie’s great friend Suzi, who later took a short scenic flight over the lake with me. Then as the ladies waited at big construction projects on the highway back to Smiley, I flew up the valley enjoying the scenery on both sides yet again on a different route in different light. Solo is fun, but I’m looking forward to sharing it all with Anne again tomorrow.

2011/08/04

Oil & Water

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 00:38

Preparing this photo I heard a loud sizzle a moment ago, when Anne put some water in a pan with hot oil (she’s fine). Got me thinking about the ways oil and water get along – or not. It seems to me there are many more offshore oil platforms in our channel than when we moved here 20-ish years ago. I do like the colorful lights on chilly winter nights, and it’s interesting to fly over them like this.

2643 Offshore Oil Platform

2643 Offshore Oil Platform

One of my various “careers” was a Summer diamond drilling job on a Yukon mountaintop, and this reminds me of it a little. I wonder what it’s like for the crew to live out there for a shift. Unlike my mountain drilling though, they can see the city lights. It’s been years since I’ve seen the poetry I wrote up on the mountain, and maybe this will motivate me to look for it. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy all the action in this snap as I do.

2011/08/01

Hugette’s Quiet Courtyard

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 21:56

I had an aunt with a mansion in Hollywood, and for some reason the quiet mood and smell of stillness is evoked when I look at aerials like this of the Hugette Clark mansion near the bird refuge.

2426 Hugette's Sheltered Pond

2426 Hugette's Sheltered Pond

The whole place accurately conveys the impression of having been frozen in time many decades ago. It’s been kept in good condition by the caretakers even though Hugette never made it back to her childhood playground. With her recent passing I seem to glance at (and snap) it more often when we fly past. Every time, it brings back that mood and smell of my aunt’s mansion of similar vintage. Maybe some day soon it will be opened to the public, and we can pause to gaze on the reflecting pond contemplating past, present, and future.

2011/07/30

Quiet Campus

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 03:23

We were delighted to get a few minutes of flying today, and for some reason the waterfront SBCC main campus looked especially peaceful and beautiful.

2460 Peaceful SBCC

2460 Peaceful SBCC

This college is one of our first positive impressions of Santa Barbara, before moving here. We drove along Cabrillo (bottom-right) and were amazed at the idyllic setting, imagining students walking across the street and broad sandy West Beach to go surfing after class. Anne even worked for a time in one of the offices just above the grassy area lower-left. We once watched July 4 fireworks from the East end of the campus overlooking the harbor (just left of the Los Banos Pool you can see just left of the harbor, top-right).

Not only does our community college have a spectacular setting, it boasts a remarkable world-class faculty. We know several professors who left UCSB jobs to teach there, and the quality of instruction is generally top-notch. The fact that the college also has one of the premier Continuing Education programs in the world seems to be cause and effect. Adult Ed provides the exceptional faculty, and the grateful community is exceptionally supportive. I love this town! 🙂

2011/07/25

Notice

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:28

Discovery has magic for me. Certain discoveries add an element of magic and surprise, brought simply by noticing.

A familiar view for us is the nearby mountains that endlessly entertain us with changing light and often a fluffy dash of mist or cloud. Sometimes a dome of elegantly painted sky at sunset. Often a circling hawk or a cackle of crows. On a nearer hillock is a snag that draws the eye, and frequently harbors hawk or crows, woodpeckers or smaller birds. Imagine the surprise then to discover a medium-large tree standing alone on a ridge not a mile from our daily vantage point.

2398 Fog Featured Tree

2398 Fog Featured Tree

That’s it to the left of the snag, brought into stark relief by the fog just beyond. That same scene an hour later looked as it usually does, and that same tree is all but invisible.

2400 Vanished Fog & Tree

2400 Vanished Fog & Tree

With the fog gone, the hill beyond camouflages the tree and even seems to shift the shape of the ridge it stands on. This disappearance got me thinking about what and how we notice. Our minds are wired to ignore most of the information flooding into our senses. We’ve evolved to pick out what’s relevant or different. Anything that stands out in some way. If we could build a robot with eyesight no keener and brain no simpler than ours, would it notice the tree in the second photo? Would a mindfulness guru notice it? How many things in our lives go unnoticed? How many of those are relevant or different, but we pass them by either because we lack the presence to notice or because they don’t stand out? Why do I sometimes want to notice and remember more? How does noticing such things somehow stimulate serene happiness? Would that tree stand out in the second pic if my father had planted and cared for it? How relevant will the most important thing in my life be, in the context of ten thousand years?

Anyway, here’s a larger slice of the same scene more as we normally see it, inviting us to notice the tree even less.

2400 Tree Diminished

2400 Tree Diminished

Still, having now seen it our eye is drawn to search for it daily, a familiar face in the sensory crowd.

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