John & Anne Wiley

2011/04/25

Up River

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,Nature,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 03:13

We got an uncharacteristically early start this morning, and were rewarded by a pair of cardinals next to the street.

7440 Cardinal Point

7440 Cardinal Point

Life flows downstream when we’re not fighting it perhaps. The troubles of our ancestors flow down to us, and we can choose to wear ourselves out or play like otters. Today we talked about our mutual desire to play more with “frustrating” things. In quotes because in my heart I doubt that anything can frustrate me if I choose instead to enjoy it. So when Dex acted up during our drive today, I took a breath and smiled. Suddenly everything was fun again. I thought of the anger and frustration response learned from my Dad, and how much anger his Dad had taken on in turn from being orphaned out by his Dad. Excellent preparation then for exploring a hollow along a creek, where some of my more distant ancestors most likely lived, worked, hunted, hiked, courted, built homes and families, and left behind impressions of their times.

7504 Ancestral Creek

7504 Ancestral Creek

We pulled into Foxburg for the night and scored a wonderful off-season hotel room with a balcony over the Allegheny, featuring these two views.

7542 Up River

7542 Up River

7520 Down River

7520 Down River

After dinner we went for a long walk, first on a paved path along the left bank of this photo where Anne spotted an expressive rock face.

7577 Rock Face

7577 Rock Face

The paved path was probably on an old railroad because it still sported several old telephone poles amid the smooth slabs of massive boulders.

7599 Pole & Boulder

7599 Pole & Boulder

Then we climbed the steep slope with scattered loose shale and slippery matted leaves, to reach an old abandoned road bed where we followed a deer trail that found sure footing over the many mud and rock slides that had conspired with volunteer trees to obliterate the road. It went up and down with the terrain, so we imagined it had been there for at least a century and probably several. On the way up we passed an even bigger boulder adorned with an open heart etched into the mostly smooth vertical side somehow by eons of trickling water. How many people have paused here on a “honeymoon” journey of discovery?

7634 The Open Heart

7634 The Open Heart

2011/04/24

Ground School

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,Nature,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 15:53

Today we’re exploring in a rental car. A few years ago we discovered I’m not me. Anne had hired an exceptional genealogist for my birthday, to research my paternal grandfather’s ancestry because he’d been placed in an orphanage at age 8 along with his two sisters when his mother died. Turns out he’d changed his name for reasons we can only guess at, but our expert had been able to uncover the facts leading us back to the 1740s just North of Pittsburgh. So today we begin a short ground tour learning more, photographing terrain & tombstones.

Yesterday we found what remains of the nice home in Pittsburgh where my grandfather’s older sister had worked as an escape from the orphanage.

7340 Attic Escape

7340 Attic Escape

She probably lived in that attic room, and it must have seemed heavenly after her time in the orphanage. Then with some help from Abby (our phone’s GPS) and a lot of help from Louise, we found the actual orphanage.

7365 Gramps' Orphanage

7365 Gramps' Orphanage

Turns out it had burned down, but in the center of this snap you might make out the bell they’ve placed as a memorial. After a fascinating guided tour of Wheeler we paused at Suzie’s magnificent farm.

7394 Paradise Found & Lost

7394 Paradise Found & Lost

Beautiful as it is, the WV mining laws have allowed many negative impacts on the quality of air, water, and sound here that remind us how precious is what we have inherited from ancestors and how we pass it on to descendants. Even with all the mining mayhem, it’s a relaxing place to Be.

As a promise of today’s discoveries we were treated to a gentle sunset drive back to Pittsburgh.

7427 Pitts Sunset

7427 Pitts Sunset

2011/03/24

Back to School

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:31

I know. Pix of UCSB might actually get boring for some people. For me though, especially lately with clear weather and lots of water and green and clouds… Well, lately I’ve been asking ATC for takeoff from funway 25 (meant to say Runway 25 of course, but the slip fit so well I left it in). Anyway, by going from that runway there’s a great view of UCSB and the islands as the first visual greeting aloft. sigh…

6295 Molly Factor

6295 UC Factors

The fact that Molly and Erin went there adds a lot too, almost like the shimmer of the slough is a mirror back into years of warm memories.

OK, so tomorrow I’ll start sharing more pix from this 3/22 flight. Unless we fly between storms again and get something so fun I get jolted back to the present. 🙂

2011/03/21

Rain Seekers

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 02:17

I stayed dry today, unlike my Seattleite wife who relished the chance to weed her rose garden.

6200 Not Blue

6200 Not Blue

Despite the intermittent heavy rain and the amount of blue in this pic, she was quite happy. She came in smelling all fresh and green, and now enjoying the warm fireplace and the welcome she received from a happy dry hubby. Now as darkness falls, the rain gets even heavier, and as I write this, another scene outside caught my eye.

1866 Guard Frog

1866 Guard Frog

When we moved into this place, the previous owners had left behind a massive cement frog that we instantly adopted. We enjoy putting him in various poses around the yard. A few weeks ago he took up this watchful position near the dry fountain. As you can see, it is now overflowing with all the rain. Is it just me, or does he look happy? Can he have spent some years in Seattle too? I hope the xeriscape plant with bright red flowers is happy with all this water, because it took root on its own and we haven’t watered it in this normally dry climate. I hope we can get a break in the clouds to take a quick flight tomorrow, because I’d like to dry Tripp out and get some pix of the local seasonal waterfalls that must all be spectacular right now.

2011/03/18

Happy Green

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 02:33

Aye and here’s wishing you a happy St. Patrick’s Day! We seem to have reached the age where going to one of the great Irish pubs downtown for a green beer no longer holds much appeal. Instead, we’re watching the festivities online and TV here at home with some green soup (homemade split pea) with our dear friend BD.

BD St. Pat's

BD St. Pat's

Bette Delores (her real name) has been wearing seasonal flourishes since I got her started on it with a santa hat at the end of 2010. Yes, that’s a Portofino poster behind her, that we bought on our glorious visit there with family. When we led a tour on a different trip to Europe, we enjoyed weeks of Ireland culminating in a transformational retreat with the late John O’Donohue whose skills as a naturalist, scholar, philosopher and poet infused us with a deep draught of Irish and Celtic consciousness.

But this year, Anne tried to help BD discover jauntier ways of wearing a green scarf.

BD Scarf Experiment

BD Scarf Experiment

Happily, they decided against that look. To me it’s evocative of a burka. Or perhaps WWI-era head wound dressing.

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