Sunset 8:25 pm: In search of one last blush

It was something the female Dawn Jogger (now one-half of the Two Gimps) took for granted, she thought today, on the evening before she goes under the knife to repair all-things-gone-wrong with her Achilles tendon (but thankfully not a dreaded rupture).

For over 25 years, she's risen at dawn and jogged. Never very fast (8.5 minutes a mile may have been her best and that is oh-so-slow) and never very far (13 miles the longest at a jogging pace but one walk that ended at mile 20). It was the predictability that soothed the soul. She recalls only one long stretch that kept her on the sidelines - a bout of plantar fascitis that began when the Giants played their first World Series game since 1989 (that would be 2002) and extended to after Valentines Day the following year. It seemed like a long time - but it ended.

Earlier this year something more long-lasting occurred. She started feeling a pinch of pain on the right side of her left foot sometime in March. It was a morning "gotcha" that disappeared as she jogged. But it got worse. It started cropping up - and enduring - at anytime during her morning outing. She thought, "If it's still there when I get back from France, I'll do something about it." And yep, it was still there.

So she made an appointment with the "go-to-guy" sports podiatrist. Diagnosis: "Severe tendon deterioration and partial tear." Explorations into alternatives to surgery proved elusive. So tomorrow is the day.

Maybe the biggest surprise to the female DJ is that she's actually survived and adjusted to what she still refers to as the "dreaded elliptical." It's not as awful as she imagined but, at the same time, she thinks she discovered listening to books on tape "in the nick of time." The stories mask the boredom of the workout task.

There is no doubt that, in her mind, it's still "bye-bye gym" in an instant and back out in the fresh air that's dawn.

So what to do about a blog devoted to two Dawn Joggers that ran at dawn, reduced to one Dawn Jogger (following the male DJ's glioma diagnosis in October 2006), reduced to zero?

A more community-minded blog, In Menlo, has proved to be a diversion - and one with intriguing possibilities. But it's observational in even a more detached way than the female DJ's musings. Might something more personal emerge? Or more esoteric?

Future unknown. But the end of First Blush. If only the sun had managed a spectacular sunset this evening...

Sunrise 6:02: Grace is a water baby

Nothing is a better cheer up for the Two Gimps than a visit by 20-month-old granddaughter Grace, who continues to show her proclivity for all things water, much as her father did. (The female Gimp isn't sure whether she loved the water from birth or quickly learned to love it as her mother was bound and determined not to pass on the fear of water she took into adulthood.) The payoff for Grace's ride over from the East Bay today was a new kiddie pool set up in the Gimp's backyard. Even Dad throwing a bucket of cold water on her didn't dampen her enthusiasm...

Sunrise 6:02: Going Wyeth again

She's really not that despondent, but the female half of the Two Gimps, found herself in one of those Wyeth moments again, as she snapped the other Gimp just as he finished climbing to the top of the small knoll at Baylands this morning. They did a good loop and admired the many white pelicans who'd taken up residence since they were last there. This will probably be their last walk together for a while, as the female TG is having surgery on her Achilles tendon on Friday to 'clean it up' and repair a tear. One of the earlier Wyeth moments happened at Baylands while the other was on the Coast...

Sunrise 5:57: Glimpse of the dawn

She almost felt like a Dawn Jogger again when she awoke early this morning and looked out her window to see the Bay Bridge framed by the early morning sunlight. The Two Gimps hotel room overlooks the Bay and they're in agreement that it's just fun to sit and watch - the people below as the City comes alive, the cargo ships headed out to sea, the Alameda/Oakland ferry making its way back and forth. While they were eating breakfast a car caught fire on Bridge making for big bellowing clouds of black smoke. Hopefully the male DJ will post it - and a fabulous shot of a rainbow behind the Giants scoreboard last night - later today. Now it's on to the Richard Avedon exhibit...

Sunrise 5:57: Return to a favorite walk

The Two Gimps (formerly known as the Dawn Joggers) set off this morning for a pick-me-up break in the City that started with one of their very favorite walks along the Embarcadero from Mission Street to the ballpark. The male TG, discouraged by a loss of mobility recounted discussed in a blog post, felt pleased at the pace he kept up; the female TG's tendon felt as good as it has in months. The clouds were every changing; Perry's is now opened so one can get a decent Ramos Fizz; the 7th floor deck near the hotel room overlooks the Bay and was a great place for a little sunbathing. All in all a nice day along the waterfront. Now if the Giants can win after the thrill of the last night's no hitter...

Sunrise 5:53: Walking the parade route

The Dawn Joggers decided to combine some walking exercise, traveling from downtown Menlo to Burgess Park and back, with their 4th of July assignment to cover the community activities for the new hyperlocal blog, InMenlo, launched a couple of weeks back. As the female DJ has noted in previous 4th of July posts, this holiday was once a jammed packed sequence of dawn-to-darkness events when their son John was growing up in South Pasadena, anchored by a multi-block party at Eddy Park just down the street from their home. But they've been less community focused since arriving in Menlo 20 years ago, not having young children. So it was good to get in the local swing of things, viewing and then walking along with the parade of youngsters and dogs (and a couple of sheep and goats!) all decorated in patriotic colors down Santa Cruz Avenue and watching the kids (not the goats) take advantage of the various inflatable carnival rides and activities that had been set up at the park. Yes, that's the male DJ in photo vest and blue cap on backwards, photog like, in the right corner of the photo...