Sunrise 6:16 am: Awake poppies and a working Dish

The Dawn Joggers are out too early during the week to see open poppies - they close over night - so it's a treat to see their full display on the weekend. The poppy is the California state flower, a designation made in 1890. As such, they are protected and it's illegal to pick them, a fact the female DJ, whose parents were reverential about this particular wildlflower, remembers well from her childhood. In years past there were a number of good poppy stands along the Big Dish jogging paths but this year its all pink/violet little flowers. The Dish, a 150-foot in diameter radio telescope, was built in the 1960s and continues to be utilized for research projects.