Not in a celebrating mood

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

The Dawn Jogger is glad someone has something to celebrate. She noticed the balloons lining a stretch of fence along San Francisquito Creek during her dawn outing this morning. But celebrating she is not, given the news that Buster Posey is out for the season. There’s been a lot of chatter in the press about how dangerous playing catcher is and that the Giants management should move their valuable future face of the franchise to another position. That will now only increase post last night’s collision. In an irony of sorts, she’s headed up the Yard today for a day game..

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Frogs make their annual Lake Lagunita appearance

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

frog at Lake Lagunita

Snowy Egret at Lake LagunitaEven though it happens every year, the Dawn Jogger is always surprised the first time she encounters a pack of frogs along the trail that circles Lake Lagunita. Sometimes the tiny, one-inch amphibians are so thick that it’s almost impossible not to step on at least a few of them. That wasn’t the case this morning. Not only were they concentrated at just one end of the Lake, they were few enough in number that it was easy to step around them. Guess it’s happy hunting for the Snowy Egret still in residence…

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Rattlesnake is a new hazard for Stanford golfers

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

rattlesnake warning along Stanford bike pathThe Dawn Jogger admits to a bit of a snake phobia. She doesn’t much like them, and like other rational people who spend time in the outdoors, she particularly doesn’t like rattlesnakes. In the many years and hundreds of miles the DJs spent hiking on local trials with loyal dog Cassie, they encountered relatively few snakes and only a couple of rattlesnakes. The closest encounter they had was along a trail that paralleled Los Trancos where they had to swing way wide when they came upon a coiled rattler.

She’s never seen a snake on the Stanford campus proper, in other words excluding the Big Dish area where she’s seen a number of gopher or king snakes. But now there appears to be a snake in the grass hovering between the practice and regular Stanford golf course. When she first came upon the warning sign this morning, she thought someone had killed the snake and put it in the shopping bag, but then realized the bag just provided a way to hang the sign. She was really too early for snake time – the sun hadn’t sufficiently warmed the adjoining pathway, which would make a good sunning place for a snake. If the rattler decides to slither a bit west, it will find itself on the third tee…

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Major “dotting” on the back side of the Dish

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

The Dawn Jogger is still waking up early, so she thought she might as well get her planned Monday morning Big Dish run out of the way. It was another pretty morning with a mix of high clouds and blues skies. On the back side of the Dish, headed down to Piers Lane, the herd had arranged themselves so they were artfully dotting the hillside. Just by the cow grate, a member of the lower head poised for a photo. Good outing, no ill effects on the cranky knee…

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Day of Grace at the Oakland Zoo

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

sky ride at Oakland Zoo

With Julie feeling very pregnant with all the attendant aches and pains, the Dawn Jogger set out to the East Bay this morning for an outing to the Oakland Zoo with Grace and John. The Zoo is perfect  for the 8 and under set – l0ts of things around to climb on, exhibits that can be viewed from various perspectives and a great kiddie ride area. In her previous visits, the sky ride that take riders up a hill high above the zoo, had never been open. Grace, who’s been there many more times, hadn’t seen the Zoo from a bird’s eye view either. So it was the first thing the three of them did. She was a little fearful at the beginning, being up so high, but was in the swing of things after just a minute or so. And relaxed enough for a wave as they turned to go back down the hill…

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Hear, there, everywhere you look – geese!

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

geese at Byxbee Park

The Dawn Jogger journeyed down to Byxbee Park along the shores of San Francisco Bay to walk the 5-plus mile loop this morning. It seemed like a good day to do that route. The sun was shining brightly – although not initially along the shoreline, she discovered – and she didn’t have an appointment until 10:30. While there are frequently geese at Byxbee, she can’t recall a time that she encountered such a “herd.” Maybe they all just decided to hang out together. Some were artfully posed…

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Wow – an actual sunrise witnessed!

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

sunrise over Lake Lagunita

It’s not that the Dawn Jogger is not a relatively early riser – she’s usually up around 6:00 am and on the trail no later than 6:30. But these days that’s well past sunrise. This morning she needed to drive a neighbor to an early AM doctor’s appointment and that paid off in seeing an actual sunrise over Lake Lagunita. According to the Chronicle, the time was 5:56 am…

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Early light means early morning outing at Big Dish

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

herd grazing on Big Dish land

The combination of getting a bit used to New York time and the early, predawn light has resulted in the Dawn Jogger waking up earlier than usual. This morning she decided to get right up at 5:30 am and head over to Big Dish, walking from the Stanford gate when it opened at 6:00 am. A “crowd” of about a dozen had already gathered, and while she could see the rain squalls on the western hills, none managed to move in as she walked the up and down loop.. She did see the now almost full grown herd of young cattle, grazing on the other side of the fence. She likes to think they lined up to look at her…

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Big bird morning at Lake Lagunita

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

Ducklings at Lake Lagunita

hawk at Lake LagunitaThe Dawn Jogger knows she’s shown duckling photos in the past, but she is charmed everytime she sees them. This time she got the whole family. She’s also curious if she’s spotting more than one brood, as each time she sees them the ducklings look fairly young. Over the years spent jogging around Lake Lagunita, it’s been more typical to watch the young grow into ugly teenage ducks.

While she paused to take the duckling shot, a hawk landed on the pole next to her. Do hawks eat ducklings?…

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Thirty years ago today the DJs said “I do”

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Linda Hubbard

Thirty years ago today the Dawn Joggers walked along with son John from their home on Wayne Ave. in South Pasadena to Eddy Park a block away. John carried a flag that the female DJ’s mother had made for the occasion. At the Park, they were married in front of family and friends by Episcopal priest, the Rev. Cynthia Seagal Samuels. Godfather Clark had given John a rubber spider to throw at the end of the service. Why? Because he’s Clark – and John was 6.

The reception was a low key, semi-hippie affair, held in their back yard. Any coats and ties were quickly  shed as the dancing – to the music of Snotty Scotty and the Hankies – got started. The thing the female DJ remembers most about the day was that she really had fun. And, of course, how lucky she was to have found the male DG…

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