Sunrise 6:15: In the pink

The female Dawn Jogger's mother's brothers and sisters lived in the Bay Area when she was growing up, and there were annual rituals - and regular outings like going to see the Giants play. One annual ritual that the female DJ recalls as very boring was viewing the bougainvilleas at their peak of bloom in Golden Gate Park. But she's become more appreciative of them as an adult and has enjoyed jogging by a particular bright display in her neighborhood. The reunion dust is finally starting to settle...

Sunrise 6:16: One more gathering

The female Dawn Jogger went for a quick run this morning before heading to a brunch that Cynthia was graciously hosting. One last chance to share some laughs - and memories - even with friends the female DJ sees more regularly. She knows that in today's transient world most people don't know each other for a lifetime. Three at the brunch were in her Brownie troop (one was in her kindergarten class!). Everyone else she's known since at least 14. Darn lucky! One reunion non-starter called from Italy to get the scoop...

Sunrise 6:17: Bellying up to the bar

The reunion-and-old-memories theme continues and was much on the female Dawn Jogger's mind when she set out on her Saturday Dish run. The police cows were making a rare appearance close to Alpine Road clumped around what remained of an old oak - sort of like bellying up to the bar (undoubtedly a necessity to getting through tonight). Back at home the male DJ and Alice were making preparations for an impromptu brunch for Michael (and Alicia) and Barb. A shout out to the male DJ and Alicia for putting up with all the reunion chatter that so quickly digresses into adolescent topics. (Is HE really sleeping with HER?) A couple of incoming cell phone calls revealed that one classmate and her husband plan to make a grand entrance on their low-rider Harleys. There is something fun about being temporarily transported back in time...

Sunrise 6:18: Be true to your school

That her high school was having a reunion this weekend sort of crept up on the female Dawn Jogger, and she decided to keep in the spirit by jogging around the old neighborhood this morning rather than the Stanford campus. The reunion activities got kicked off last night unofficially with a dinner with friend Michael and his companion, and yes the yearbook got pulled off the shelf. Reunions are both creepy and fun, and Michael suggested that there's something to be said for remembering people as they were rather than what they've become. But both classmates felt a pull to their roots, explained much by the fact that they both went all the way through elementary and high school in the same area, as did most of their classmates. Families settled in Menlo Park and Atherton in the 50s and stayed, which seems to bring greater depth so the usual reunion show and tell. They've known their classmates - and in many cases siblings and parents - almost they're entire life. Hillview School, which is slated to be torn down and rebuilt, is where it began for the female DJ...

Sunrise 6:20: Bench that's meant to be

The female Dawn Jogger can't remember when this picnic style bench appeared on the driving range end of Lake Lagunita. (Most types of outdoor furniture show up near the Lagunita dorms.) Nor does she have any idea how many people took advantage of it as a resting or contemplative place. But when it broke some months back, a log quickly got placed under it to prop it back up. With the sun up well before she reaches the lake these mornings, it beckons a stopping place for the dawn community. Some mornings, like today, are lonely at the lake...

Sunrise 6:21: The hound of Big Dish?

The grazing herd was in welcoming mode around one of the female Dawn Jogger's favorite oaks on the Dish this morning. But there was a more perplexing creature pacing back and forth along the fence near the cattle grid on the Alpine side. It was about the size of a German Shepherd but yellow in color. At first the female DJ thought it was a dog - a strange enough sight on the Dish these days. But it didn't act like a dog in its wariness about a human. And when it bounded across the hillside in a very feline manner, she thought, "oh my god, a mountain lion." She continued down the hill; the creature planted itself and watched her. As she got closer, the shape of its head was clearly more canine than feline. Maybe a coyote, even though the coloring is not typical? The female DJ told the man who she sees walking into the Dish property just as she's leaving every Wednesday about the sighting. If he sees it, too, maybe he'll have an opinion that will solve this Dish mystery...

Sunrise 6:22: Caterpillars, not frogs

Like many parts of the mid-Penisula this year, the oaks surrounding Lake Lagunita are infested with the Western tussock moth caterpillar. (Last year it was a bumper cross of frogs, but of course the lake had water then.) Dawn Jogging community member Judy spotted a whole pack of them on the fence post near the David and Robin Kennedy Kosher Coop this morning. According to the Menlo Almanac, the one inch hairy creatures can cause rashes and respiratory problems in humans - as well as defeoliating trees. Stanford says its using predatory spined soldier bugs and nematodes to stem the infestation. To think, a warring world of insects just like in the movies...

Sunrise 6:24: When Stanford was our playground

Looks like the gang's coming in this coming weekend. A reunion has been organized. This was an event that hadn't quite gotten on the female Dawn Jogger's radar - mostly due to the brain journey but also an initial lack of interest. But with good friend Alice arriving Friday and names of people she's known since Hillview School years resurfacing, she's started to get curious. Growing up in Menlo Park was pretty idyllic and meant regular bike rides to and around the Stanford campus, initially on bikes like this one tethered on the campus today. So now she's leaning toward going...

Sunrise 6:25: A dog in full

The female Dawn Jogger presumes there must have been some sustained downpours in the overnight rain that fell. For for the first time in months, Cassie's favorite puddle had returned near Lake Lagunita - and the water was actually running in the channel that drains into the lake. Running back and forth in the water with high stepping paws continues to be a favorite pasttime, even at 13.. The water, the green and the sun made for a pretty Earth Day postcard. Today the female DJ's father turns 96, celebrated with cupcakes and song...

Sunrise 6:26: Competition on the Dish

Most Saturday mornings there are more walkers than runners on the Dish, even when the female Dawn Jogger gets a fairly early start as she did today. So she was surprised to encounter a string of runners often in pairs and all wearing wrist bands. She thought it might be some 'team in training' - these groups often use the Dish. An inquiry solved the mystery. It was part of a weekend competition among California business schools. Unsolved is what the See Tommy Run logo on many of their t-shirts signifies...

Sunrise 6:27: Indoor activities

The female Dawn Jogger admits it wasn't raining that hard this morning. But she has a day packed full of meetings and lots of deadlines, so it just seemed sensible to get up and get going, foregoing her usual morning outing. The DJs had gone on a 'last blush' activity yesterday evening, getting over to see Richard Avedon's In the American West exhibit at the Cantor Arts Center. (A Gordan Parks show is also there - a bonus.) The male DJ has long admired Avedon. He's one of a number of photographers he photographed during his years as a photog, The shot is taken on a bus bench along Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles during the 80s. Trying to take in these small events is part of the new canvas the DJs are trying to paint as they adjust life on the brain journey...

Sunrise 6:29: New lights - and a kitty

The female Dawn Jogger needed to participate in a 7:00 am conference call today, so she was up and out of the house before 6:00. That gave her the opportunity to examine the new lights along the [not as pleasant] pathway that skirts what will be the student practice golf course. She encountered a small black cat (look closely in left side for the pair of eyes) who seemed content to pose. Predawn at Lake Lagunita brought what seemed like a herd of desert hares, who weren't willing to pose...

Sunrise 6:30: Just a pretty morning

Nothing remarkable about the female Dawn Jogger's Wednesday Dish run today. It was just a very pretty spring morning, complete with a couple of desert hares and one half of the Big Bird couple. As she was trudging up the hill from Junipero Serra entrance, she thought about how hard this hill was for her when they first moved back to the Bay Area 17 years ago - and how relatively easy it is for her to do now. Wish all of life got easier...

Sunrise 6:32: Earth movement

A day before the 101st year following the Great Quake of 1906, there was another kind of earth movement happening on the Stanford campus. As the Dawn Joggers have seen many times in the past, huge dump trucks line up to take dirt from one part of the campus to another. This time the dirt is being moved from what's going to be the practice golf course to points unknown by the female DJ. Each cab appears to have a distinct personality...

Sunrise 6:33: Art on art

The female Dawn Jogger missed the art fair at Stanford. She and Cassie the Australian Shepherd were too early yesterday morning, and this morning only empty tents and debris remained. The Memorial Fountain, otherwise known as the Claw, was turned into a kind of temporary installation with promotional posters for a Gilbert and Sullivan musical. Strange, the female DJ has passed through White Plaza hundreds of time but the fountain looked new to her today...

Sunrise 6:34: Aussie grass frolic

Cassie the 13-year-old Australian Shepherd has cherished each and every blade of grass she's come across - backyard grass, field grass, and the wild grasses of spring. When she was a pup, she'd lower her head in the grass and then run full speed ahead, nose down. A visit to Booka and Nan's on Hillview Drive was a treat due to their large grass backyard. And for over 10 years every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, she'd lope across Roble Field on the Stanford campus at sunrise. When the Dawn Joggers started going to Arastradero Preserve to jog on Fridays, she'd often stray a bit off trail, just to get the soft grass under her feet. So, this morning, the female DJ took her to Roble Field, and the spry old girl pranced around with a smile on her face. There is no doubt that if Cassie were human, she'd have played outfield...

Sunrise 6:36: Big bird nest?

Over the past few weeks, the female Dawn Jogger has spotted a couple of Blue Herons hunting together. While the DJs see these big birds frequently - and from time to time one has roosted in a tree near their house, greeting the dawn with a couple of loud shrieks - they've not seen a pair together on a consistent basis. The female DJ last saw the pair hunting together on the Alpine side of the Dish when she did her Wednesday Dish run. No sign of them this rainy morning when she did the usual Saturday full Dish route. But as she started across the Stanford campus on her way home, she came across what she thinks may be their nest in a tree near the Narnia dorms. The size of it - about four feet wide and dense with pine branches - stopped her in her tracks. The Blue Herons that inhabit northern California are typically four feet high and nest in wetlands. Maybe this pair have distinct personalities like the the famous San Francisco peregrin falcons, George and Gracie...

Sunrise 6:37: The protests of spring

There was lots going on at White Plaza on the Stanford campus this morning, although still too early for human activity except for the female Dawn Jogger and two other early AM runners. There were a variety of tents - big ones set up for this weekend's art festival and sleeping tents occupied by the campus Living Wage Project. The exact nature of the specific protest seemed a bit sketchy, although a fast appeared to be in progress. Messaging and good signage is important even for pup tent protests...

Sunrise 6:39: Lights up

Some time over the past 48 hours the new lights were installed along the new [not as handy or pleasant] path that runs along the practice golf course on the Stanford campus. The female Dawn Jogger doesn't think they are working yet, at least they weren't on when she passed by just prior to sun up this morning. The lights were much needed this past winter, and she's glad that they'll be there when morning darkness begins to descend in September. Meanwhile the work on the practice golf course has slowed...

Sunrise 6:40: Showering Dish

The clouds were particularly painterly this morning, the female Dawn Jogger observed. They appeared in layers atop the Western hills and displayed different shades of gray, depending on density. She hadn't let light showers deter her from the Wednesday Big Dish run and was well rewarded. The Big Bird couple was hunting for breakfast on the Alpine side, and they - and a jack rabbit and one other jogger - were the only other up and about creatures on the Dish. Surprising that a spring shower would keep other regulars in bed...

Sunrise 6:41: Roadside display

While the sun isn't up, it's now light when the female Dawn Jogger leaves the house. She spotted the irises (she thinks they're some kind of iris) planted along the path near Sand Hill Road and thought they'd be dislaying themselves nicely on her return trip. But they weren't as sparkly as she'd hoped, so she took a weird shadow shot. When life is so jam-packed, triviat amusements can help...

Sunrise 6:43: Wall of electioneering

It was obvious to the female Dawn Jogger this morning that it's election time on the Stanford campus. Lots of walls near Tressider are covered with candidate posters - usually in the style one 8 1/2 by 11 size flyer being repeated a couple of dozen times. The female DJ wonders is it's like the national elections - the leader being determined by how much money the individual has raised. Just this weekend the DJs filled out their vote by mail authorization...

Sunrise 6:44: Easter morning walk

Cassie and the female Dawn Jogger headed out to Arastradero Preserve for an Easter morning hike. Seeing so many brown spots on her Big Dish outing yesterday, the female DJ wanted to get out to the area that for a couple of years had been the DJs dawn run on Fridays while it was still green. It's more magical at dawn than later in the morning, and the female DJ would easily trade the cottontails and coyotes they'd regularly spot at that time of day over the three-foot rattlesnake that slithered across the trail about the six feet in front of them today. It was still a pleasant outing with Cassie getting in more than her fair share of sniffs to make up for lost time. Julie and John will join the DJs for the 5:00 Easter service...

Sunrise 6:46: Easter kitty

It was cloudy this morning with a temperature just perfect for the female Dawn Jogger's Full Dish Saturday run. With the low rainfall, the grasses are already beginning to turn brown, although the herd, situated today at the top of the ridge, didn't seem to mind. What looked to be a large building fire was spotted in the distance; neither the female DJ or a couple who had stopped to look at it could figure if it was closer to the Bay or near Veterans Blvd. in Redwood City. No signs of bunnies in the tall grass, although a cat appeared to be enjoying an outdoor nap. Put a pair of ears on that kitty, and it could have passed for the Easter kitty...

Sunrise 6:47: Native garden

The female Dawn Jogger ran by one Menlo Park home this morning that featured a California poppy-filled front yard, set off with other native plants. She thinks it must be pretty spectacular when the poppies are open but wonders what takes their place when their blooming period is over. According to one horticulturist, poppies continue to bloom throughout the summer if spent blossoms are removed. Guess that will keep this homeowner busy...

Sunrise 6:49: Snake in the grass

San Francisco Chronicle outdoor writer Tom Stienstra warned in his column last Sunday that hikers should be on the lookout for rattlesnakes, which were warming up and becoming active. The Dawn Joggers have seen some rattlers and other snakes over the years on their midday hikes. This morning the female DJ saw a very dead baby rattler near the graduate student housing adjacent to the driving range. She'd never seen a snake of any kind on the campus - and was glad this one was in "inactive." Where there's one baby, are there more snakes in the grass...

Sunrise 6:50: Ghouls trump bunnies

An early meeting prevented the female Dawn Jogger from doing her Wednesday Dish run. Instead she took a quick jog around Menlo Park neighborhoods with an eye towards looking at landscaping schemes now that the DJs are planning a renovation of the their backyard. She figured she's also see usual suburban, mini-over-the-top Easter/spring decorations. But she found just one Snoopy Bunny. Odd that Halloween trumps Easter by such a large gap...

Sunrise 6:52: No luck for ducks

"It's so light," was Dawn Jogger community member Judy's comment this morning. And that was the good news. The bad news is that it's very clear that there will no lake this year, which is bad luck for the ducks. And all who enjoy watching the ducklings bobbing in the water in packs. The channel which fills after a big storm as well as when Stanford opens the spigot from other bodies of water has been dry all year. It's the first year in a while that the lake was been dry but still disappointing...

Sunrise 6:53: Reorienting Chicago

When the female Dawn Jogger returned from her route across the Stanford campus this morning, the male DJ announced, "The Tribune deal is done." As two former newspaper people - with the female DJ actually spending a few years with the Tribune Co. itself - they'd both been following the story of the once mighty media company's fire sale - or so it seemed to them. The irony is that the female DJ had stumbled on a new-to-her piece of outdoor art on campus, a sculpture entitled Chicago Triangles by Charles Ginnever. It's one of three pieces by the sculptor at Stanford, all of which have three 20' by 4' elements oriented in different ways. The Tribune Co., once seemingly ahead of other old media companies, is now reorienting itself...

Sunrise 6:55: On to baseball season

March Madness ended with on thud last night, and the female Dawn Jogger says it's on to baseball this first day of April. After a morning outing with Cassie around the Lake - joined in part by the male DJ as chronicled on his blog - it was off to hear the crack of the bat (well, ping of the darn aluminum bat) and see a few innings of UCLA playing Stanford at Sunken Diamond. The Bruins were trying to sweep the Cardinal and were ahead when the DJs headed back home. Catching a few innings helped heal not only the pain of last night's lose but also not being able to attend the Giants opening day as the female DJ had planned. Can't imagine any nicer facility for watching college baseball than the Sunken Diamond...