First Blush: Heat wave gives way

The female Dawn Jogger learned years ago how you knew a heat was over on the mid-Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area – the fog descends over the western hills. Or most subtly, ground fog hovers over a dry lake bed. It was the latter this morning…

First Blush: Big Dish, little coyote

Sun up this morning was shortly after 7:00 am. It’s also been hot on the Peninsula for the last few days. So even the late dawn did not deter those who wanted to get their exercise in before the heat of the day – the Dish was all in all packed with walkers and joggers. For the female Dawn Jogger, it was her regular ‘up and over’ the Dish Wednesday time, which seems to being coinciding with the coyote family’s end of night hunting. First spotted last Friday, this morning found the up prancing close by the paved path, apparently looking for Mom. Said a fellow jogger: “Look, a mountain lion.” The female DG remains baffled that something so canine can be mistaken for a cat. Or, for that matter, the cavalier attitude of the jogger if it really was a mountain lion. That wasn’t the end of the morning’s sightings – a small snake was getting heated up across the path and someone had brought a dog into the “no dogs allowed” open space. (It was small enough to be a tasty morsel for the coyote family.) Once up and over, she looked back at the growing sunlight back lighting the Dish…

First Blush: Working out with the X country team

There are usually few souls around when the female Dawn Jogger does her Tues/Thurs run-around-the-lake route. But this morning she saw cyclists pedaling to the area near the practice golf course and found herself joined by a horde of Stanford cross country runners. She could say she worked out with elite runner this morning. Or more accurately, she could say she felt the breeze as they sped by…

It’s about living, so visit a great dive

The female Dawn Jogger got up early and did a Monday Dish run – and she could post another almost sunrise photo (which she took). But mid-morning, she had an inspiration, given a relatively schedule free day (except for the weekly visit of hospice nurse Amy), why not head over to the Coast. All the weekend beat-the-heat folks would be at work, she figured, so it would be up and over, near traffic free on 92. That indeed was the case and the DGs were able to see all the pumpkin patches in waiting, gearing up for the hordes of boys and girls to come the next few weekends. They turned south on Highway 1 and headed to Pescadero where there exists one of the great roadhouses of California, Duarte’s Tavern. Where else, she asks, can you get  combo green chile/artichoke soup? The mild surprise – the place was jam-packed for  Monday lunch (but the 100 degree Peninsula weather did beg for a coastal respite.) They came home the “long way” through the redwoods and La Honda…

There’s Grace in shoes

Grace’s father had (has) a thing about shoes. Is shoe fetish genetic? The female DG starts to wonder. Fairy godmother Cathy arrived for Sunday BBQ with a special present for Grace, shoes that sparkled and glowed in a way more marvelous than ever seen by the adults who were present. Grace took to them immediately, and poised to model. Then it was run around the house again and again. All the better to make them sparkle…

First Blush: Hey Storey House alums, it’s now a lingerie store

Well, not really. But the female Dawn Jogger spotted all sorts of amusement at the row houses on the Stanford campus this morning, Whether outfitted for a Friday night party or in preparation for tonight, many had transformed themselves into something that wasn’t quite a student residence. One example – Vicstoreya’s Secret. Guess the students are clever as well as smart…

Catching some Grace with the preschool set

Today was the monthly “grandparents day” at Grace’s preschool. How could the female DG not make the drive across the Bay for a two-hour visit? The reward was almost instant – when she arrived, Grace came running over for a hug.

The female DG doesn’t think she’s been to a preschool since son John attended Pacific Oaks in Pasadena, so the proceedings are all a bit hazy (except for the songs Grace sings when she visits the DGs.) All she can report is hats off to owner Miss Irene; check out these decidedly old-fashioned concepts:

After outdoor play, the children put away all the things they’ve played with back in exactly the right bin (e.g. dinosaurs go in a playhouse). They then wait patiently in line after removing their outdoor shoes before going inside. Next is circle time where they all sit with legs crossed on a carpeted mat that features a letter of the alphabet. The three whose turn it was for “sharing time,” get the undivided attention of the group. (Grace shared the replica Captain Hook’s hook she’d picked out at Disneyland – the boys loved it, the girls were less enthused.) They raise their hands to suggest a song. They leave the circle one at a time after being called on by Miss Irene, giving her the carpet mat and telling her words that start with the letter of the alphabet on their carpet. The say “yes please” and “no thank you.” They wait at the lunch table until their classmates are all seated before eating; they wait until the meal is over until leaving the table. OMG, respect and manners, what is this world coming to?

First Blush: Moon set over the western hills

The last few times the female Dawn Jogger has run the Dish at dawn, she’s been up and over the top before the sun rises. So she decided to reverse her route this morning, going up the west side of the Dish from the Piers Lane entrance. She did see the sun rise, but the moon setting to the west was a pretty view as well. The sun’s rays were just hitting the western hills, giving them a glow…

First Blush: Hardly a blush at all at the Equinox

The female Dawn Jogger could only wonder why the Stanford golf course tee times don’t seem to be getting later to better align with the Sun’s appearance at this time of the year. But there they were on the first tee, high above Juniper Serra Ave. this morning, about to rain golf balls her way. She doesn’t mean this as a complaint – the golf course, she knows, is for golfers, not joggers. But the sun didn’t rise until 6:57 am this morning, and there they were at 6:30 just as they’ve been for months. As she’s done all summer, which officially ended today, she was off the fairway before the first foursome made it to the course. It’s another half mile or so before she gets to the gate to the Dish area and another mile until she gets up to the Dish itself. There she turned eastward. And still the sun had yet to rise…

First Blush: Glimpse of autonomous car Junior 3

On her morning jog, the female Dawn Jogger got a glimpse of Junior 3, the autonomous car that’s part of a Stanford/Volkswagon research project. This is the car that can back back into a parking place and spin donuts without a driver. The YouTube video shows what she didn’t see. Her photo did keep Scott and Chris busy figuring out what did what…