One of the main reasons I enjoy flying in Florida, Georgia,
Maryland, Wisconsin, Texas and Arizona is that for the most part you don't have
to put much energy into keeping track of possible landing spots as they are
every where. Sure there are some fields that aren't applicable, but for the most
part landing stress is significantly reduced. Of course, getting high always
helps.

I was thinking about my last two landings here at the Santa Cruz Flats Race as I
watched parts of the movie, Sully. Monday I was circling at 500' and less over
this small developed area noticing how close I was to all the buildings:

Of course, I could see the nice open area to the northwest and actually circled
over it in the shade looking for lift there also. The ground had been shaded for
quite a while with the nearby cu-nimb looming over us,

As I came counter clockwise back to the southeast I heard from Belinda that the
task was canceled. I had already determined the wind direction if any, so I just
took one turn to lose enough altitude and brought her in in a nice packed open
field right near a paved road.

Everything was almost automatic. I didn't have to think that much about where
and how to land. I just knew how to do it and set it up for a perfect no step
landing in no wind. I had already been carefully checking the winds out for the
last twenty minutes so my last minute check was without any last minute anxiety.

A few seconds before I had been over an area that was not at all landable and
then I just moved over a few feet and it was all good. I had been low for a
while but it was still possible to keep going and search for the weak lift, lift
that I had just been working a few minutes before and not worry about whether I
could find a place to land or not.