John & Anne Wiley

2010/11/17

Mountain Drive

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Random,SB Region — John @ 20:40

There’s a road along the hills named Mountain Drive that we’ve enjoyed many times, and yesterday it was fun in new ways. We saw a hawk circling above this rock outcrop and remembered recently seeing it from the hawk’s perspective.

3453 Hawk's Rocks

3453 Hawk's Rocks

We weren’t that close though! The whole valley is beautiful, and in some ways more so down here than 1/4 mile up where it loses some significance by being so easily surmountable. It’s an easy glide on the wings of a hawk.

3448 Hard Climb

3448 Hard Climb

Just out of view to the left is a lower ridge that the sun was about to hide behind, but a thick bank of fog was stretching silent fingers trying to catch it.

3460 Moon Sun

3460 Moon Sun

In between, a zone of magical shapes waited in the quiet as approaching fog drained away sound and warmth to absorb the edges of fading day.

3455 Shape Dancer

3455 Shape Dancer

Colors

Filed under: by Anne,Has Photos,Nature,SB Region — Anne @ 10:06

John’s appointment today took us to Montecito, always a treat.  I took a walk and got waylaid at a pricey shop nearby where I considered buying a colorful scarf, then walked to the Biltmore without it.

Oceanside, on this fuzzy gray day, a crow and I stood and listened with deep delight to the soothing waves rolling ashore.

0801 Butterfly Beach - black&white day

0801 Butterfly Beach - black&white day

Turning 180′ the opposite direction from the view above, these seven uniformed gardeners are not noticing the gray day behind them, focusing instead on industriously adding pots of color to the elegant Biltmore.

0806 Seven Gardners

0806 Seven Gardeners plant color

On my way back to meet John I bought us hot chocolate with whipped cream, yummy and very unusual for me to do – and yes, I also stopped by the shop and bought the colorful scarf!

~by Anne

2010/11/16

Up Hill

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 10:06

Sometimes it’s flat for miles. Other days you’re coasting on a gentle grade. Lately it’s been small hills, and it was a great sunset walk in the neighborhood. Colors and shapes, a bit of exercise, and pausing to chat with acquaintances and neighbors. Another warm evening that fully began at the top of the hill admiring a serene pepper tree bathed in sundown.

3434 Warm Pepper

3434 Warm Pepper

Nearby an old woodpile far from any home, structure or fireplace waits for something.

3439 Wood, Colors, Shadows

3439 Wood, Colors, Shadows

Turning toward the light, we see another tree offering hints of the dusky shapes it will show against the starry sky once the nearest star’s fire has faded beyond the horizon. Perhaps an owl will sit on top waiting for residents of the woodpile to emerge for breakfast.

3441 Transparency

3441 Transparency

2010/11/15

Two More

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 21:17

I’m deleting some duplicates, and found two more to share from 11/3. The dupes build up because I shoot “rapid fire” so that at least one out of a dozen identical pix might come out ok. There’s lots of vibration and little bumps we don’t notice when flying, but the camera does. Especially in low light when the shutter is open longer, so that a point of light will move around on the sensor producing a streak or a blur. So that one ok shot is the instant when the camera has stopped moving. It helped that 11/3 was flat calm and we’d just had Tripp’s propeller balanced to minimize vibration. Anyway, I like how SB shows better in this first one than it does in the similar shot #3150 I posted earlier.

3147 Sunset City

3147 Sunset City

This second shot also shows downtown twinkling nicely, with the SBCC stadium glowing colorfully.

3159 Sparkling Sports

3159 Sparkling Sports

2010/11/14

Downtown

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Random,SB Region — John @ 01:49

La Arcada downtown has a great courtyard pond with turtles and fish. There used to be a restaurant with outside tables there and we have many warm memories of meals and meetings over the years in all seasons. Watching the fish like you’d watch a cozy fireplace. Watching kids watching fish and turtles, kids trying to talk to or feed them, and sometimes a kid trying to catch them. Watching people strolling through.

0797 Arcada Reflections

0797 Arcada Reflections

A few steps away is a nice view of the Courthouse tower that we used to join the tourists going up for a panorama of the city. It looks nice from the air. 🙂

0796 Courthouse Tower

0796 Courthouse Tower

Looking the other way in that spot the Art Museum entrance is entrancing.

0794 Into Art

0794 Into Art

So many magical places downtown, it’s fun to revisit favorites and we still discover new secrets occasionally. Will it be another glorious day tomorrow? If so, will we fly?

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