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...

Sunrise 5:47: Sunday morning surprise

The Dawn Joggers were eating breakfast this morning when they saw a car drive by very, very slowly with the passenger looking intently at their house. The reason for the interest became apparent when they got a knock on the front door a few minutes later. The couple explained that the woman - Paula Romie (maiden name) - had lived in the house in the late 50s (1956-1961 to be exact). She now lived in Southern California but was north with her husband for their son's graduation from UC Santa Cruz. She was particularly interested in seeing the grove of Redwood and cedar trees her father had planted on the corner of the lot. The DJs had understood that they had bought their house from the original owners (the DePuys) so were surprised when Paula told them that it was her family who had bought from the original owners (the Hales). Stick around on a Sunday morning and get surprised...

Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting

The female Dawn Jogger is still pondering the fate of First Blush, a blog about jogging at dawn when the jogging part is off the table, even if rising at dawn is not. Maybe time for new direction, new focus. Meanwhile the time soon after sunrise when she travels to and from the local Y presents the opportunity for an occasional drive by shooting, such snapping a photo of the construction ramp up at Oak Knoll School now that the kids are home for the summer. The scaffolding for the new multipurpose room went up while the DJs were in Ohio. The crew this morning was busy putting up murals to shield the construction site. Nothing stays the same...

Sunrise 5:49: Quiet Otters this year

The Dawn Joggers have longer known what the first Sunday in June (but early this year) brings - blaring wake up music around 7:30, followed by an hour of a woman screaming through a bull horn to cheer on participants of the annual Oak Knoll School Otter Run. They were there once - parents of a child 10 or under - and know well how grade school activities can take over a neighborhood. But they're patience had been sorely tried a few years back when some enthusiastic organizers had imprinted the finish line instructions, using permanent paint not chalk, right in front of their house. They went to bed last night bracing themselves for the onslaught, so they were surprised somewhat at the silence this morning - maybe, the female DJ suggested, the run was starting later this year. They were even more surprised when they made their way out to the kitchen and saw the first of the 5K participants blaze by on the first of their two loops. And yes, there was someone cheering them on, but she'd thankfully left the bull horn in mothballs. Now they're thinking, what a great community event...

Sunrise 5:53: Looking and listening in Menlo Park

After listening via Skype to the male Dawn Jogger rave about his closing sessions with the Taize brothers - one on his favorite topic of science and faith - the female DJ took off for a walk to breakfast on a brisk May morning (the fog bank over the western hills was very heavy). Her goal was to listen to some recordings on her iPod while remaining aware of the sights around her, seeking the rewards of an observant eye. Lumio couldn't quite capture the eccentricity and variety of one front yard that was simultaneously alive with poppies, roses and a mini vineyard. It was all packed in quite compactly...

Sunrise 5:54: Scenes in the neighborhood

The female Dawn Jogger has been battling a cranky foot but she got up and out for a walk around the neighborhood this morning. She took more photos of all the roses in bloom but also spotted an amusing pole decked out in Cal colors and a cat who was checking out the now debris-strewn lot where once its neighbor's house stood. Starting to see a few more "sold" signs around time, finally...

Sunrise 5:56: Checking out the neighborhood

The female Dawn Jogger did the Menlo loop today, checking out what's new in the neighborhood. Houses remain on the market and gardens are in bloom. The recent heat waves seem to have made the roses happy - they're blooms are plentiful. She really misses the early morning walks to Taize...

Sunrise 6:22: Construction progress at Oak Knoll

Menlo Park schools have been a big part of the female Dawn Jogger's life. She grew up on Hillview Drive and attended Hillview School when it was a K-8. Now she lives on Oak Knoll near Oak Knoll School. Both of these schools - as well as Encinal - are or will be undergoing major renovations. The Oak Knoll project changes green scape and traffic patterns and features a much larger multi-purpose building, facts that kicked up significant neighborhood dander. Now it's all dust as construction has started in earnest. The female DJ used her morning outing to capture the progress. Menlo Park is known for its excellent schools...

Sunrise 6:27: The brightest front yard in the neighborhood

Adding to the cranky foot, the female Dawn Jogger is working to head off a virus of some kind, so taking it easy today. Given the warm weather, she decided a little sunshine might do her good, so she took a stroll around the neighborhood. As it did last year (and maybe in previous years), this house gets the prize for the brightest front yard. If not the most natural, too...

Sunrise 6:32: How does your [whimsical] garden grow

There's a front yard in Menlo Park that has long displayed many touches of whimsy, including one of the famous cows from Chicago. It's clear that the homeowners are not timid about expanding to the fanciful adornments of copper insects, gnomes and birdhouses. The female Dawn Jogger noticed a proliferation this morning surrounded by spring blooms. Setting off the scene was frost on the roof, unusual for this time of year...

Sunrise 6:35: Could this be Menlo Park?

Like one time last week when she took a different route around the Stanford campus, a alternate Menlo Park route this morning presented an unusual scene to the female Dawn Jogger. In fact, she's guessing that most fellow residents wouldn't recognize the buildings as being in the town limits. When she showed the male DJ the photo she'd taken, his response was, "Is that someplace in England?" Making it harder to identify is that most people don't view it from this vantage point. Really no fun in saying what or where the buildings are...

Sunrise 6:35: 1100 Hillview Drive for sale

The female Dawn Jogger's friend Barb had alerted her that the Hubbard home on 1100 Hillview Drive was on the market earlier this week, and it had been at the back of her mind to alter her Thursday jogging route so that she could swing by and see the "for sale" sign herself. The light rain this morning cinched the deal - no need to slog through the mud around Lake Lagunita. More has stayed the same with her family home than has changed in the since years since her parents reluctantly sold the home they so loved in 2001 and moved to a senior housing complex. It's yellow now and new windows have been added, a good addition due to busy Santa Cruz Ave.(which was just a quiet street when the house was purchased new in 1951). Barb reports that there are now granite counter tops and some nice built in cabinets, but the '50s vintage tile in both bathrooms remains. The planter box on the front porch that her father built is still there as is the light at the end of the walkway. The female DJ continued down Hillview Drive, past the Moffets, Otts, Connors, Rundells, Ackles, Flickas, Giskes, Patersons. At each doorway she could see the Donna Reed-style mom with apron on and cookies in hand. It really was that way growing up on Hillview Drive...