John & Anne Wiley

2011/10/10

Sea & Sky

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:25

After a solemn short sailing out of the marina at Santa Cruz yesterday, we flew low over the same spot today.

7055 Sailor Site

7055 Sailor Site

At the harbor mouth, we’d floated slowly past the lighthouse on the breakwater at the left. Then we dined in the Crow’s Nest on the other side of the outlet just below the rows of moored small craft. There is a special magic for us, in looking both up and down. Floating on water, and floating on air. Like seasons of life, perspectives are enriched by contrast. Our muse followed us along the beach to Paharo Dunes where memories and marriages were formed years ago.

7087 Paharo

7087 Paharo

Skirting the Monterey airspace where the city was under a solid blanket, we popped over the low hills to weave among the scattered scud along Big Sur.

7128 Big Sur Coast

7128 Big Sur Coast

As I typed the name just now, images flooded back from our magic carpet ride along there a few hours ago and a great long sigh swept over me. I’ll be reviewing our collection of pix and uploading more here, on Edhat and on my Photo Page (links at right) over the next few days. sigh…

2011/10/09

Study In Blue

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 06:53

The colors here in Santa Barbara are a treat for the eye. Approaching the airport, I was struck by the variations on a blue theme looking out across UCSB to the thin haze hanging offshore.

6887 Study In Blue

6887 Study In Blue

The blue predominates so much, I had to tone it down to bring out the orange kelp and various green areas. Yet again the camera only sees an impression of the breathtaking vistas we enjoy on most every flight.

2011/10/03

Cruiser

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:22

Today we took a quick flight over town, and enjoyed seeing the Sapphire Princess cruise ship anchored outside the harbor. The whole town seemed livelier, and like us the boaters had something extra to look at. I like how it complements our magnificent shoreline.

6536 Princess Cruise

6536 Princess Cruise

When we went offshore the mountains almost looked snow-capped, with the fluffy clouds beyond.

6419 Alaska Reminder

6419 Alaska Reminder

It reminded us of a memorable Alaska cruise one of our relatives treated the family to a few years ago, except the beaches are notably better for water sports. Looking down at the ship we noted the golf course.

6452 Floating Golf

6452 Floating Golf

As you can see, we flew clear around it and the setting was equally beautiful in every direction.

6463 Princess & Mesa

6463 Princess & Mesa

On our way back to the airport, I looked back one last time and imagined what the ship looks like from a kayak.

6539 Three Boats

6539 Three Boats

If you click to see the largest version, you can make out the orange kayak at the right lower edge. The sailboat on top is looking at a floating mountain too. From up here you can see the ship’s outdoor activity areas, and think about how crowded those are when they’re at sea.

2011/10/01

Higher Math

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:49

You don’t need a college degree, but it helps. You can get them here, as Molly can attest.

6250 Slough & UCSB

6250 Slough & UCSB

So here’s the math problem. You’re in a plane leaving Santa Barbara going North to Santa Ynez and you pass an Amtrak train that is Southbound.

6257 Amtrak at DP Beach

6257 Amtrak at DP Beach

OK, you may have already figured out the answer: I’m messing with you. Though the train is Southbound, it’s actually going East because of our coastline here and we were flying West out of SBA before turning toward Santa Ynez. But it serves to illustrate the sort of higher math I’m really talking about: Anne + John + Tripp = way too much fun. 🙂

2011/09/30

Go Team

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:55

Flying past Bishop Garcia Diego High lately I’ve several times noticed football practice, so this time I snapped the fascinating diorama of tiny figures running around chasing a ball that’s invisible from the air. The movement is fun to watch, if you’re lucky enough to see a play. As someone observed, football is endless committee meetings punctuated by brief periods of violence. In other words, chances are they’re most often all standing around or in a huddle when we fly past. When I looked at the snap, it had missed the play but did catch some essence you might enjoy.

6237 Miniature Football

6237 Miniature Football

Now you may have noticed that I rarely put large images here, instead putting those on our Photo Page. But this triggered more words from me than those do, and seemed more suited to this venue. So I’m curious if anyone will be curious enough to click this pic and see the larger version. You can make out several things going on, and one you could look for is the coach just above the team on the right. Like the quarterback juggling the ball, he seems to be watching the cheerleaders at the top right. 🙂

OK, Anne sez you have to click twice so the text goes away, and again if you need to zoom in, but still can’t really make those details out. So here’s a higher resolution crop of that pic, and if you click this you can probably more clearly see what people are doing.

6237 Closer Look

6237 Closer Look

 

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