Sunrise 6:45 am: Oak tree down

A large, old oak tree had toppled near the bike bridge over San Francisquito Creek, probably the result of overly soggy soil and a less than healthy tree. It was not the first spotted by the Dawn Joggers this mushy spring. "Oak tree down" has been a thread of the DJs 25 years together. It was a big event when one crashed in their South Pasadena neighborhood years ago. That oak was immediately transformed into a fort by son John and his friends, then into their "military camouflage" dress up faze. Two particularly majestic oaks (featured in Bo Caldwell's enchanting novel, "The Distant Land of My Father") graced the middle of Chelten Street in that same neighborhood. They were spaced at a perfect distance for weaving a car in and out - a maneuver lobbied for by John and executed by the male DJ over and over. Those oaks, too, are now gone.