John & Anne Wiley

2011/03/22

Clouds roaming hills

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,SB Region — Anne @ 06:52

SB had record rainfall yesterday the 21st, its highest in history ever recorded for ANY day, at 5.23″ in one day.  Today, the 22nd, was supposed to be clear so we intended to fly for a photo shoot of waterfalls which we figured would be abundant.  It did not clear up all day – until late in the afternoon.  I was about to end a phone call as John came in the room making flying motions.  So off we went and he got some BEEutiful shots which he will share but he can’t get to it yet. In the meantime I’m posting one I took and also encourage you to look at his “Flickr” page (see right and click on “More Photos”) to see one of the prettiest he took.  Here is my humble offering of our spectacular flight in the meantime…

1879 Clouds caressing hills at sunset

1879 Clouds caressing hills at sunset

~by Anne

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.

2011/03/17

New Day

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 02:24

We were up early and walked outside to enjoy the sunrise. As I stood there watching clouds wash over the mountains, a realization also dawned.

6192 Cloud Surge

6192 Cloud Surge

Short sleeves and sandals in the warm gusty air, and the way this fluffy tsunami evaporated as it sped down-slope all conspired to wake me up.

6193 Ripe Bounty

6193 Ripe Bounty

Turning to admire the orange tree next to me, I reached out and plucked a ripe ball of juicy bright color to enjoy with breakfast. Looking back toward the mountains, I admired the brilliant yellow of some delicious lemons and smelled the sweet bloom of the various citrus flowers.

6194 Lofty Lemons

6194 Lofty Lemons

Some of my neighbors might feel guilty, living in such a remarkably bucolic place. Others might dread the inevitable quakes and possibly even tsunamis, the wild fires, floods, mudslides, and other potential perils of this place. I’ve recently stood in barren snowy sub-zero air in Canada. I’ve sweltered in my youth on the edge of the desert. I’ve walked alone on a sleepless morning with no warm place to go.

On such a beautiful new day as this with Anne by my side, all I could do is enjoy as if for all life on the planet.

2011/03/16

Alligator landscapes?

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,Nature,SB Region — Anne @ 06:55

Here are a couple of shots I took from our recent delightful flight.  The first is at the east end of Santa Rosa at the Channel Islands. I have another view where the beach has the shape of an alligator head so maybe you can imagine that.  I chose this because it shows more shapes on the island.

1770 Rosa Tip

1770 Rosa Tip

On our way home we flew higher than usual and so I got Ojai in the background and a wider view of Lake Casitas than usual, with again more shapes visible.  The land shapes slithering into the lake from the left, maybe influenced by my thoughts above, are now reminding me of a mama and baby alligator.  Do you see them?

1833 Lake Casitas

1833 Lake Casitas

~by Anne

2011/03/14

I Love Airplane Noise

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 01:41

The title of this post is on a bumper sticker our pilot friend Jo has. I thought of it from watching one of the mini videos from Anne’s compact still camera shot during our “back-taxi” on the Lethbridge runway. The dominant sound on that video is Tripp’s trusty engine, and I noticed in my heart a flood of warm enjoyment of the healthy “noises” made by that reliable Lycoming 0360.

It also got me thinking again about pix from our recent flight out to the Channel Islands, and that in turn moved me to share a few more. This time, of our approach to Ventura on our way to the fun little Santa Paula airport.

6078 High Approaching Ventura

6078 High Approaching Ventura

We were high, in several ways, as we neared Ventura. First in altitude, because though typically we fly there at around 2,000 feet this time we were probably up at 7,000 or so on a very gradual descent from the crossing. When I fly over water, I like to add the extra safety skipped by most pilots, of being high enough that in event of problems I could glide to land. Even though it’s not much of a safety issue where there are so many people, boats and rescue resources nearby and the water is relatively warm, it would break my heart to watch Tripp slipping beneath the waves after we were rescued. Also high of course, on the joys of flying and the particular magnificence of flying over the islands. This time of year when they’re so lush with plant growth and the beaches and water are alive with pinnipeds added a lot to the elevation of our spirits. Flying this high here, Ventura is spread out below and Lake Casitas shimmers in the distance.

Looking down, the harbor shapes and colors make for interesting colors and shapes, and also remind us of being down there enjoying maritime activities and probably not even noticing the music of Tripp’s engine passing above.

6081 Safe Harbor

6081 Safe Harbor

A few minutes later, I enjoyed the textures and shapes created by agriculture mingling with suburban housing tracts.

6085 Land Use Textures

6085 Land Use Textures

Human activity on our planet creates some beautiful quilts that interact with the natural terrain. What did this spot look like to a soaring condor 300 years ago?

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