First Blush

Sunrise 6:16: Scooped by my spouse - a new blog

2009-08-05T08:40:00.002-07:00

At the suggestion of a number of people - and for a number of reasons both practical and therapeutic, the female Dawn Jogger has morped into one half of the Dual Gs (gimpy and grumpy) and has started a new blog, Gimpy and Grumpy. She was still working on some of the rough edges and not quite 'ready for prime time' when she was outed by her spouse yesterday over at gulker.com. She's thinking in terms of keeping it up until one or the other of them stops being gimpy, grumpy or both

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

2009-07-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-19T20:16:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

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 5:49: In need of a botanist

2009-06-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

With challenges in the gimpiness department, the Dawn Joggers headed out this morning nevertheless on a walk to the San Mateo bike bridge and back. (The female DJ just couldn't take another day on the elliptical but she's not going to be [too] foolish.) It was already warm when they came upon some plant that appeared to have been dropped from outer space. It had low to the ground large green foliage and blooms three or four feet long that featured yellow flowers and, for lack of better words, downy-like fur. They'd never seen anything like it...

Sunrise 5:48: Grace's Giant debut

2009-06-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

Father's Day festivities included a visit from Grace, who found one of the female DJ's many Giants ball caps and made her fan debut under the glowing gaze of proud Papa. The gathered group shared a delicious barbecue meal overseen by the man of honor, the male DJ. If the female DJ was still a dawn jogger, she'd be noting that the sun rose a minute later today than yesterday...

Sunrise 5:47: Saturday morning takes a different turn

2009-06-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

For a long time after the male DJ was diagnosed, Saturday morning was a source of pain for the DJs. This had been the time for them to share a long run together, and in the first year, the female DJ had to set out on her own. Then sometime last year after the male DJ increased his walking mileage, they did a successful adaption of sharing outdoor time on Saturday. They'd go to the same place and the female DJ would jog while the male DJ would walk, and they'd top it off with breakfast out. The "bad foot" has now interfered with this satisfying arranged. The female DJ headed out for another boring session on the elliptical because she can't walk, while the male DJ set out on foot for the two mile walk to the shopping center to buy provisions for the Father's Day barbecue to be held later this afternoon (given some conflicts tomorrow). The female DJ picked him up and they did share a good brunch together...

Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting - #6

2009-06-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

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 - #5

2009-06-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

When the radio alarm went off this morning, the female Dawn Jogger heard that temperatures were can to warm up today and for the next few days. So it wasn't surprising to encounter a cloudless sky when she stopped at the gate to the Big Dish area. The result was a long shadow. Almost the end of this silly series but a new venture begins...

Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting - #4

2009-06-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

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

Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting - #3

2009-06-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

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 5:47: Sunday morning surprise

2009-06-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

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: Looking longingly over the fence

2009-06-13T18:25:00.001-07:00

Just to add to the torture of not jogging at sunrise, the female Dawn Jogger has to drive by the entrance to the Big Dish every day on her way to the gym for her appointment with the elliptical machine - but from the "wrong" side of the fence. The next week will feature the longest hours of daylight of the year, so she's decided to do a little experiment and shoot the same scene when she passes by. Today's shot was taken three hours after sunrise, no need to get up and out on a Saturday. She misses being outdoors and seeing the textures of earth and sky...

Sunrise 5:47: Drive by shooting

2009-06-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

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 5:52: Farewell to Ohio

2009-06-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

The Dawn Joggers were treated to near perfect late spring weekend in Ohio - with temperatures warm enough for shirt sleeves but without much humidity - and lots of great catch up visiting with classmates, friends and faculty. (The male DJ promises a picture page.) The sunset was particularly pretty on Saturday night from the Memorial Garden (which was rimmed with peonies at their peak) on the Western Reserve Academy campus. Back to the realities of more regular activities now...

Sunrise 5:53: Morning in Hudson

2009-06-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

The female Dawn Jogger has been coming to Hudson, Ohio, to attend the male DJ's reunions at Western Reserve Academy every five years for their entire married life. That's given her a chance not only to get to know his classmates but also the charming town of Hudson, a somewhat New England looking place, thanks to its history as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. At her first reunion 25 years ago, she discovered what is one of her favorite boutiques anywhere in the world, the Grey Colt. She later learned that the store was originally co-owned by the couple who had been so influential in the male DJ's life while he has at Reserve, Pris and Ash Graham. (This weekend they're staying in town with daughter, Timmie.) After a workout at the WRA gym, it was time for the female DJ to make her pilgrimage to the Grey Colt, where she's always found something unique and fun to buy, as she did today. It was also an opportunity to catch up with current owner Katie Coulton (daughter of original co-owners Patty and Stewart Coulton) and do some reminiscing about what a grand lady Pris was - and how much she is missed. The year the Grey Colt celebrates it 50th anniversary in business...

Sunrise 5:54: Back to Western Reserve

2009-06-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

The Dawn Joggers are in Hudson, OH, to attend the male DJ's reunion at Western Reserve Academy. They spent a fun evening catching up with friends and classmates (and all the gossip that small town/small school brings)last night. This morning the male DJ met with school art master Alan Doe who is being good enough to facilitate a retrospective of the male DJs' photographs from the 80s in the Moos Galley. As a teacher Bill Moos had a significant impact on the male DJ...

Sunrise 5:48: Grounded - indefinitely

2009-06-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

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 5:49: Gym rats

2009-06-01T08:43:00.001-07:00

The female Dawn Jogger remains firm that experiencing the first blush of dawn is just not the same inside the walls of gym (although she wouldn't be complaining as much if this was during those months she ran in the dark). But she headed off first thing with the male DJ soon after sunrise this morning nevertheless. Their positions were not unlike their jogging patterns from years past - the male DJ always in front, now on the treadmill while she uses an elliptical machine. No, there won't be photo after photo of one of the other of them at the Y, way too boring...

Sunrise 5:49: Quiet Otters this year

2009-05-31T10:04:00.001-07:00

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 5:50: Banished indoors - but together

2009-05-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

The male Dawn Jogger was all set this morning for a nice three to four mile walk like he had been enjoying near daily in Ameugny. But, with the female DJ currently outdoing him in the 'gimpy factor,' they headed off to the Page Mill Y instead, at least doing their workouts together. The reason the female likes running at dawn so much is that it's outside - working out inside has just never made sense to her. But hungry for any significant exercise, the elliptical trainer filled the gap - a cardio workout without significant weight bearing. She's is a holding pattern on rehabbing the injury until she see the doctor on Tuesday...