John & Anne Wiley

2010/08/27

Weather

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 20:21

We’ve been watching weather because we’re flying a friend the short hop to Oceano. As you may recall that’s one of our fav nearby airports. Because it’s on the beach, fog can be an issue in early Summer. Well, with this year’s freaky weather the fog is sitting offshore there today so we’re waiting for a satellite update to see which way it’s moving before we meet our friend at the airport. I’ve been catching up on email, and came across one sent in appreciation of this blog that ended with the words, “from a cold wet August in Aberdeen, Scotland.”

Got me thinking about how much Santa Barbarians take weather for granted. It’s basically “Goldilocks” weather here (not too hot, not too cold – just right as in the “Three Bears” kids story). Because our small section of coastline runs East-West, the wind and ocean currents are disrupted. The result is often better weather than Los Angeles in Winter and better weather than San Fransisco in Summer. The one drawback people here like to whine about is coastal fog, but I like it! Any time the fog gets annoying, it’s a few minutes’ drive to reach sunshine (half as many if it’s possible to take off from SBA). Local pilots have tried in vain to coax me into getting an “IFR” license so we can take off in fog, but even tho Tripp’s equipped for it I’d rather spend that extensive training cost flying us in clear air where we can see the magnificent and endlessly fascinating sights of Santa Barbara.  Can you tell we like it here? 🙂

2010/08/24

We See UC

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:21

Yesterday we finally went for a short flight, but aside from some local interest pix I sent to Edhat this was the best photo we got.

0916 UCSB Gate

0916 UCSB Gate

Such an incredibly beautiful setting for a university, eh?! It’s impossible to really capture the beauty, representing SB’s setting so well as it does. Mountains, ocean, wetland, and all the myriad human attractions ranging from arts and sciences to humanities and (one of my personal favs) education. This town of 150k or so boasts a dozen or so renowned higher education centers, with UCSB standing as a prime example. Can you tell I love living here? Especially when I get to fly! 🙂

2010/08/18

Two Wings

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,SB Region — Anne @ 04:13

After making 2 batches of yummy (if I may say so) brownies, one for the airport tower crew – and reading much of the novel The Help, I’ve had a luxurious relaxed day! I’m in the mood to add a bit tonight, so I chose a photo from the same flight John just posted.  His camera is better (and he knows how to use it!), but I sort of liked the angle on this one of the harbor.  I caught this by looking back through my side of the airplane, taking it behind us.  What looks like a Wing on top is actually the tail of the plane, and the land looks like a Wing flying over the ocean.

0408 SB Harbor Wing

0408 SB Harbor Wing

Hope you enjoyed your day as much as I have mine 🙂

by ~Anne

Do Birds Enjoy?

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:57

As we left the house for a sunset stroll, the subtle brush stroke clouds added such beauty to the colorful sky I ran back in to grab the camera. Framing the shot I noticed the little bird sitting in the palm tree at the top. Is it enjoying the sunset or just doing whatever birds do before nightfall?

Sunset Bird

Sunset Bird

We’ve wondered lately also about the burned hills above SB. First, are they a new fire hazard rather than providing a few years’ respite from wildfires due to all the chaparral being gone? Second, what’s the brown stuff we see that has us worried? Third, how tall is that stuff? When we flew around on Friday it was easy enough to swing by the peaks and take a look. We’ve heard from fire experts on Edhat that it is indeed a hazard, and though we still don’t know what the stuff mainly is there’s no doubt that it’s several feet tall as you can see from this closeup.

0898 Burn Edge

0898 Burn Edge

The bare sticks are all that remains of the burned chaparral that was several feet tall, and the dried out non-evergreen stuff that surged up from the heavier than usual rainy season is nearly as tall. The brown areas predominate on vast areas of the mountainside as you can see in this photo of just a portion of areas affected by fires of the past two years or so.

0899 Burned Area

0899 Burned Area

Maybe I’m part bird though, because a lot of my concern about fire potential eases when I take in this vista. Concern tries to inch back up when I see our town nestled by the shore in the distance, then ebbs again with the beauty of it all. Would a bird just survey this looking for a meal and watching out for predators?

2010/08/16

How UCSB

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 22:40

It seems to me that how You See SB depends on your perspective. In looking through aerial photos from our Friday flight around town, I realized we hadn’t shared this one of UCSB.

0848 UCSB Gate & Engineering

0848 UCSB Gate & Engineering

Then I remembered my first flight lesson at SBA. I’d toured the campus many times on a bike and the bus, and even more times by car and of course on foot. Never had I seen it from the air, except a brief glimpse from an airliner during landing or takeoff. As the instructor lifted off from one of the two “15” runways  that the small planes mostly use, we passed very close to the East side of the campus and the view just after liftoff was very much like this. I found it very difficult to concentrate fully on the instructor’s running commentary as I kept glancing and even sometimes staring at the magnificent setting of this place I knew so well from the ground. If you like UCSB and have never seen it from the air in a small plane, I sure hope you find a way because as usual photos can’t convey how magnificent it is.

0884 Floater

0884 Floater

Another fun thing to look at when flying over UCSB is the surf lineup at Campus Point, so we often check that out. Friday there was what looked very much like an abandoned air mattress floating near the kelp beds not far from the surfers, and I imagined someone idly paddling around there catching some rays. I hope the environmentalists on campus or at nearby Isla Vista eventually towed it back to shore.

0886 Campus Point Surfers

0886 Campus Point Surfers

To really watch the surfers you’re much better off on one of the bluffs of course. But I also enjoy looking down into the water, and though we’re moving relatively fast even during takeoff it’s fun to glimpse someone actually catching a wave. I’ve wondered whether sometime I might spot a dolphin, seal or even shark swimming near the surfers possibly without them even knowing it was there.

I guess you already know how much we love flying around Santa Barbara, even after having flown in so many other beautiful places. We already loved this area long before we had flown over it in a small plane. Doing that increased our enjoyment of SB by orders of magnitude. So just like viewing UCSB from the air, it seems to me that flying can change how You See SB. 🙂

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