Bright, sunny and dog filled Central Park

Lake in Central Park Jan 2011

Dogs in Central ParlThere was a mass of canines tethered to a fence just inside the 79th St. entrance to Central Park this morning. They’re clumped a bit in the photo, and it’s hard to see that they were somewhat divided by breed – or at least the Golden Retrievers were segregated. The walkers were affixing brand new blue scarves around the dogs’ necks. Was this so the dogs could be easily identified as under their watch?

Much later in the run, the Lake shimmered in the early morning sun, not fully frozen but with patches of ice…

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Taking care of business at the reservoir

The female Dawn Jogger came east with a special package earmarked for the top of the reservoir. This had been a favorite run of both DJs – mostly done separately while on business trips to New York. Last year, the male DJ was walking well enough to make one final trip around.

The heavy snow fall had the reservoir path buried early in the female DJ’s visit this year but had finally melted enough by this morning for her to make her way, hopscotching some icy patches.  Mission accomplished…

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Bright, chilly and back to brown

Bethesda Terrace Central Park

It was in the high 20s when the female Dawn Jogger set out for her spin around Central Park, which on this first day of the work week in the new year, she had almost to herself. Thanks to no wind, it didn’t feel as cold as the temperature read. The bright sun meant the appearance of more and more brown spots

She set about photographing the photographers again. (Those few who were in the Park were evidently still on vacation mode.) She took almost a half dozen shots but liked the one where it was hard to tell who was photographing who on Bethesda Terrace. The scene, she thought, was a bit other wordly…

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Photographing the photographers

Central Park New York City 1/2/11

Steam vent Upper East Side New York CitySo much for out and about early. A variety of reasons kept the Dawn Jogger inside this morning. Others also did not venture into Central Park. The rapidly melting snow and increasing brown spots meant Cedar Hill – a sledding paradise since her arrival – once again belonged solely to the dogs.

Once she did get on her way, she decided that another Broadway (well in this case Off Broadway) matinee followed by an early dinner made sense. Her choice was a “chick show” (first cousin to “chick flick”), the frothy and entertaining Love, Loss and What I Wore. The current cast includes Broadway stalwart Didi Conn and Loretta Swit of Mash fame. A fun 90 minutes. It was then off to a good dinner at Bar Americaine, which despite its celebrity chef (Bobby Flay) and commercialism, served good food.

On her way to the theater, she decided it would be fun to photograph the photographers. First, she spotted two men looking at different angles at the steam vent on 74th St. (both were European, just for the record). Then she watched as another European man stood in the middle of the roadway to chronicle the onslaught of horse driven carriages that make their way into Central Park.

Has she mentioned that for the second year in a row everyone in New York City seems to be European?…

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Balmy East Coast welcome to 2011


She presumes it will take a couple of days to sort out just how she wants her new blog to look (and time she does have at the moment!). But the female Dawn Jogger decided that she really couldn’t start the new year being “gimpy and grumpy.” That moniker was coined in the summer of 2009 when she underwent Achilles heel surgery, from which she is now fully recovered.

And as most of her three readers know, she lost her beloved husband Chris Gulker last October, reason enough to stay grumpy. But it is a new year, which she is starting in snowy New York that’s currently downright balmy. (So much so, she thought of calling this Balmy 2011 but that didn’t seem to have legs.)

Like her previous blogs First Blush and Gimpy and Grumpy, most of the focus of Dawn Jogger 2011 will be on what she sees and hears in the early morning hours of her sunrise running routine. But there will also be a sprinkling of travels, which also usually includes a dawn jog.

So at the beginning of 2011, she finds herself in snowy but very balmy New York City. The daytime temp of around 50 means that tons of locals and tourists are roaming about in almost shirt sleeves even though the snow is still two feet deep in most places.

So she ventured out to meet the new year in just one layer of running clothes plus gloves and felt almost too warm as she made her way around the six-mile Central Park loop. Along the way she spotted new year’s lovers who had paused on the still snowy Reservoir running path…

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