Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting - #6

Pure and unadulterated envy. That's what the female Dawn Jogger felt when she stopped at the gate to the Big Dish area this morning and encountered a runner on her way up. But it was off the Y and the end of this silly drive by series. Maybe her ankle feels the teeniest, tiniest better, but not much...

Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting - #4

Today it was all about the clouds - again. But still too late for dawn...

Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting - #3

The early morning sky, while not cloud free, was clearer than it's been over the past week, when the weather has been unseasonably cool (although when asked every local remembers just how cool June can be). This morning the female DJ liked the pinkness of the clouds in juxtaposition to the golden hillsides. The shot is looking south, not west...

Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting - #2

The female Dawn Jogger was about three hours earlier today than when she took a similar shot at the edge of the Big Dish area on Saturday - but still too late for actual sunrise, which had occurred about 30 minutes earlier. And this morning she really was behind the fence looking in - whoever was responsible for unlocking the gate into the area hadn't done so. Just down the road, a bunch of walkers/runners were waiting outside the gate near Stanford Avenue...

Sunrise 5:48: Grounded - indefinitely

The clouds were pretty about a half hour after sunrise this morning. But most of the female Dawn Jogger's view was through the car windshield on the drive to the Page Mill Y for her elliptical workout. It was so hard for her to start running again at dawn without the male DJ after his diagnosis almost three years ago. It's just as hard to be forced to give it up herself. She thought about this especially today, as Wednesdays are the day of her usual mid-week Dish run. All she could do was stop the car at the gate and snap a quick photo. And wish she was there...

Sunrise 5:57: Back on home turf

The female Dawn Jogger noticed that the hills were no longer green on her way home from the airport yestesday, so she wasn't surprised at the golden color of the grass surrounding the Big Dish this morning, where she jogged shortly after dawn. (She was thrilled to have slept to 5:30, given the time change!) The mid-Peninsula is in middle of another heat wave, and it was surprisingly warm, given the hour, on top of the Dish. She's thinking it was smart to get up and out early...

Sunrise 6:15: Snapping the moment

The female Dawn Joggers sees rabbits - actually usually desert hares - a couple of times a week. She suspects a den near the golf course trail she uses to get over to Lake Lagunita. They just aren't the posing type and run away quickly. But this morning she came upon a whole group of rabbits eating their breakfast on the Alpine side of Big Dish. The were just far enough away to not be bothered by her so she strained the limits of Lumio the camera and took a picture. The result was a recording of the moment, not a real photograph. Later, in a field adjacent to the golf course, a Blue Heron did sort of pose. It was a good morning outing before taking to the skies later today...

Sunrise 6:20: Chris walks the Dish!

Like last Saturday, another milestone was reached today by the Dawn Joggers. After an absence of close 2 1/2 years, they walked the Dish together, starting from the gate near Junipero Serra and Campus Drive East. The female DJ thinks the loop is somewhere around 2 1/2 miles, but it's not so much the distance as the numerous steep ups and downs. The male DJ (shown taking a photo of the female DJ) feels very accomplished. "This was a big deal to me," he said...

Sunrise 6:39: A not very nervous herd

It looked to the female Dawn Jogger that the whole herd of young cattle was gathered around the paved road that leads up from Piers Lane to the Big Dish this morning. And quite a few were in not much of a hurry to move away from their human interlopers, including one guy who was distinctly colored. At least it made for easy pix...

Sunrise 7:11: Clouds are the star today

Rain is predicated today but when the female Dawn Jogger headed out on her full circuit Big Dish run the sun was still shining brightly. It set off the tall green grass in the fields this year's herd hadn't been grazing in. By the time she'd gone up, down and up again and was ready for the final descent back to Piers Lane, clouds were obscuring the sun - but in a fantastic pattern. Everywhere she looked there was another great scene ready to be photographed. The male DJ like today's selected photo the best..

Sunrise 7:15: Moon returns

The almost full moon was a blessing on the first dark morning that the female Dawn Jogger got up to run after returning from New Orleans following the beginning of daylight savings time. But then it started waning (as moons do in cycles) and has also been hidden by clouds, making for even darker mornings. It was back this morning, providing good light as she scampered across the first and second fairways on the way to her Wednesday Dish run. And it planted itself in good juxtaposition next to the Big Dish itself...

Sunrise 6:33: Lovely last morning of light

The female Dawn Jogger will be spared the initial harsh reality of the time change next week - when darkness again descends on the dawn - as the first three days won't be a 'get-up-and-go-to-work' day. (The DJs head off tomorrow on a jaunt - little birthday treat for the male DJ). But she nevertheless relished every glorious moment of her late winter outing in the light of day this morning as she went up and over the Dish. It was pretty every where she looked - so green, so sparkling. And the clouds formed a great pattern in the sky behind the Dish...

Sunrise 6:35: Bright shiny morning

The female Dawn Jogger was backed at it this morning after yesterday's torrential rain. (The creek is running to strongly the DJs can hear it from their backyard). It was soggy everywhere - large puddles on the first and second fairway and water streaming down from the highest area of the Dish. When the sun came up everything took on a silvery shimmer.
And a rainbow set off the scene...

Sunrise 6:46: Three rainbow morning amid the gloom

The female Dawn Jogger always goes out to get the morning papers before taking off for her predawn jog. She'd heard the Chronicle was up for sale - and might close - sad news for "newspaper people" like herself but as the male DJ said: "21st century newspapers don't have a business model" referring to the disappearance of both classified (to online) and display advertising. The Chronicle was still at the end of her walkway this morning fully packed, as are all papers, with financial doom and gloom. There was one other sad note in today's edition: the Tonga Room - located in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel - is likely to close. The female DJ loved going there as a child because of the 'tropical storms' that occur a couple of times an hour. It was fun introducing John to the scene when he was about eight (you never tell a child it's going to rain inside, that's part of the surprise), and she was looking forward to taking Grace in a couple of years. So she was thankful to chase all the bad news away with a three rainbow morning during her Wednesday Dish run. They just seemed to be everywhere she looked...

Sunrise 6:55: Regular schedule brings shared experiences

Since the female Dawn Jogger began her regular Wednesday Big Dish run in 2007, she is pretty regular about when she leaves the house - around 6:20. This becomes crucial in the summer months when she needs to get across the first fairway in advance of golfers who are teeing off early. Running at a regular time means a week can make a big difference, especially when the sun is rising earlier daily. This morning the Dig Dish and her favorite oak where in full sunshine while last week they shared the predawn light with the moon. Regular run times also mean sharing adventures with other Dawn Community members, like the four cyclists she sees most Wednesday mornings either along Alpine Road or closer to home on Sand Hill. They're always good for a shout out as the peddle by on their prework ride. (She thinks their Stanford MDs.) Today they all encountered the same obstacle - a down tree across the jogging/bike path. It was hard enough making your way on foot; carrying a bike over the bramble was more difficult. Should she have immediately tweeted, "Down tree interrupts morning exercise..."

Sunrise 7:24: Warm at the top

The Bay Area has been experiencing record breaking warm weather. And while it's cool at sunrise, the accumulated hot air stays at higher elevations. The female Dawn Jogger guesses it was at least 10 degrees warmer at the top of the Dish this morning than at street level. With clear skies, she continues to have the navigation of moonlight in the predawn hour. This morning the moon posed for a picture with Big Dish itself. One of the delightful surprises of jogging at dawn...

Sunrise 7:25: Dish light

The sun is setting later each evening. But, in the morning, it's stuck on 7:25, where it's been over a week. So the female Dawn Jogger continues her week looking for light. She knew it would be a tough assignment today on her Wednesday Dish run. Sometimes there's the light of a lawn mowing machine on one of the two fairways she sprints across but not today. There's always the barrage of car headlights on Junipero Serra but they're more annoying than illuminating. The Dish itself is engulfed in darkness, except near the top where there's a shack that houses electrical equipment (she thinks). Hard to see even those lights today in the fog...

Sunrise 7:21: Sightings of the season

A heavy frost was sparkling in the break sunshine when the female Dawn Jogger set out on her Saturday Big Dish run this morning. As she headed down Piers Lane, she was greeted by a Christmas elf, part of an organized Team in Training run that was just coming off the Dish. Tomorrow is the winter solstice - the shortest day and longest night night of the year. But a review of the sunrise and sunset times in today's Chronicle show that it's the same today as it is tomorrow. Whatever the case, the sun is low in the sky, which makes for a very long female DJ shadow...

Sunrise 7:19: First cow sighting of the season

The female Dawn Jogger has seen signs of this year's cattle herd in the area surrounding Big Dish but this was the first morning she got to check out some of the "guys." They'll be around for the next three or fourth months and are quite comfortable co-existing with the walkers and joggers. She also saw some snow on the ridge just south of Windy Hill...

Sunrise 7:14: Hello mister coyote

The Big Dish area continues on its recent streak of surprises, the first of which this morning was how warm it was on top, given the very frosty temperatures at ground level. Then as the female Dawn Jogger headed down towards Piers Lane, a coyote appeared about 50 yards to the left of her, ambling across the open field. He crossed the path in front or her and continued on his (or her) way, checking the human out from time to time. He was almost the exact color as the field and, given his tan coloring, the female DJ can understand why some people may be mistaking coyotes for mountain lions. Clario the camera did its best to get a shot but the coyote was a bit too far away...