Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 23, 2013

6

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 23, 2013 


“What’s Going On?” 

News and Views from Joan Schmidt

REMEMBRANCE

LIVING WITH OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS

 By Christopher Nyerges

[Nyerges is the author of “How to Survive Anywhere,” “Self-Sufficient Home,” and other 
books. He leads self-sufficiency classes, and does a weekly podcast at Preparedness Radio 
Network. He can be reached at School of Self-reliance, Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041 or 
www.ChristopherNyerges.com]


MARY PAT CROWLEY

February 12, 1950-February 7, 2013

A Short Life, but Well Spent

 At the beginning of the Memorial 
Mass celebrating the life of Mary Pat 
Crowley, Father Eugene Herbert, Pastor of 
Annunciation Parish, Arcadia, said, “This 
wasn’t supposed to happen.” Mary Pat was 
so vibrant and giving, and had so much to share with others. She 
was a remarkable woman with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes 
when she smiled, which was all the time! 

Her life began February 12, 1950. Daughter of Jim and Erla, she 
was born between two brothers, Tom and Joe. She was devoted 
to her family and was thrilled after her brother married and had 
two daughters, Doris and Helen. As years went by, Mary Pat 
became a great-aunt with the birth of Azize, Darcy and Logan. 
All the children loved their “Aunt Patty.”

I met Mary Pat when I began teaching at Annunciation Church. 
My first two years there, she was my mentor and friend. What 
impressed me was that she was a fantastically fair teacher and a 
really caring person. Mary Pat then went to Los Angeles Unified 
School District and taught at Gage Middle School. At her 
services, their retired Principal raved about Mary Pat and called her “Counselor”. She had started 
out as a teacher, but she was so respected and trusted that students came to her for advice or just to 
vent. Soon Mary Pat assumed Counseling duties.

All the years since I met Mary Pat in 1985, she has been a very integral part of our Music Ministry at 
Annunciation Church,. There she united her love of music with her love of God. Within this ministry 
she found many friends and considered them part of her family.

Annunciation Parish was an important part of Mary Pat’s life. A few years back, the school had to 
merge with Immaculate Conception, because of hard economic times. Mary Pat worried about the 
Parish and it was her idea to begin the 300 X 300 campaign to help restore the financial health of 
the parish. She inspired groups to come together in this effort and to date, $39,800 has been raised. 
Thank you, Mary Pat, for showing us the way.

After her passing, in lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to the 300 X 300 campaign to 
help the school and parish. Anyone wanting to remember Mary Pat, please make a donation to 
Annunciation Church (Memo: 300 X 300 campaign) 1307 East Longden Ave., Arcadia. Thank you.

Mary Pat is no longer with us, but her kind, generous and loving spirit will remain in the hearts of all 
who were so blessed by her presence in their lives.

“The Character of 
a Nation is determined 
by how its 
animals are 

treated” Ghandi

Each time I read 
this paper I am amazed at the broad spectrum of 
different and talented writers that Susan Henderson 
has managed to cobble together as her “staff.” 
I have frequently said that my favorite columnist 
is Stuart Tolchin whose observation about the 
world and his life have often made me laugh, and 
even nod an empathetic nod. 

I also read with great enjoyment the column by 
this newspaper’s “dog columnist,” Chris Leclerc, 
about different animals that become friends. This 
struck home because the various members of 
my menagerie over the years have become quite 
close, often to the amazement of friends.

Popoki was a very friendly cat, and though the 
dogs didn’t like her at first, she held her own, and 
eventually would squeeze in when the dogs were 
eating and eat out of their dish! That’s no small 
feat, considering how jealously most dogs guard 
their food, and will often snap if another animal 
gets close. But Popoki often would be seen eating 
with Cassius Clay, who was a stout Staffordshire 
terrier, also known as a pitt bull. 

Out back, Otis our pot-bellied pig had his own 
yard, and in the winter, Popoki would go out 
there and sleep in the straw with Otis. When it 
was really cold, Otis would burrow into the thick 
layers of straw, and only his back or belly would 
be sticking out. Frequently, we’d all go out back 
to see Popoki sleeping on the warm little patch of 
Otis’ big body that was sticking out of the straw. 
It was quite a sight, but we all thought that the 
two of them became good buddies. We only had 
the one pig, and the one cat, and perhaps the two 
odd fellows stuck together.

We also had a snow goose for the 17 years of her 
life. Blue Girl was pretty much a loner, but she 
too would warm up to Popoki during the spring 
when she was laying eggs. And occasionally in 
the early morning, when the roosters got going, 
she would attempt to crow along with the roosters, 
which gave her the nickname “Gooseter.” 

By the way, I had all these animals when I was 
living in Highland Park, and wrote about animal 
and food raising, and recycling, and gardening, 
and self-reliance, in our book called “Extreme 
Simplicity, Homesteading in the City.” It’s a great 
book, and I still see copies of it for sale on Amazon 
and Ebay.

In addition, we became so close to most of our 
animals that we conducted funerals for nearly 
all of them. In other words, they were not mere 
“pets” or “livestock” or “animals.” They were part 
of our family, sentient beings who shared our life 
and to whom we experienced mutual upliftment. 

When Cassius Clay died on Easter Sunday of 
2008, I remember that same feeling I get when 
anyone close to me dies – the feeling of hopelessness, 
emptiness, experiencing the void, and 
a sense of inner darkness. I spent a week being 
with Cassius mentally, and preparing a gathering 
where I would honor our life together. It didn’t 
matter that some people would laugh and ridicule. 
Nevertheless, I invited several friends, and 
prepared the site where I’d buried him.

On the Saturday after he died, I was a bit amazed 
that over 30 people showed up and sat in the 
quickly-dug outdoor amphitheater. I talked 
about the high lights of my life with Cassius, and 
felt a great joy that there were others I could share 
this with. And each person present shared their 
experience with Cassius, or something about 
their own personal pet.

The overall experience was more moving than 
many of the people funerals I’d been to. There was 
a little music, some soft drinks, and then everyone 
got to plant some herb or flower over Cassius’ 
grave, and then water it. 

In death, my close canis pal had brought so 
many like-minded people together. It was a real 
blessing.

Again, I am reflecting upon these events because 
of the diversity of this newspaper’s writers, and 
due to the ability of this paper’s editor and publishing 
in bringing all these folks together. 

[By the way, my experiences with the dog funerals 
is described in great detail in my book, “Til Death 
Do Us Part?”, available from Kindle, or at the Store 
at www.ChristopherNyerges.com.]. 


ASTEROID 2012 DA14 SPEEDS AWAY FROM EARTH

 (NOAO) On February 15, asteroid 2012 DA14 passed extraordinarily close to 
the Earth—at about 17,500 miles, well within the orbits of our stationary satellites. 
Unlike the unexpected asteroid collision over Russia that same day, this encounter 
never presented any danger, but astronomers were eager to observe the event. 

 An international team led by Nicholas Moskovitz (MIT) observed asteroid 2012 
DA14 with a number of telescopes, including the 2.1-meter telescope at Kitt Peak 
National Observatory: the accompanying video shows the asteroid as it was leaving 
the vicinity of the Earth. As Dr. Moskovitz said, “Flybys like this, particularly for 
objects smaller than 2012 DA14, are not uncommon. This one was special because 
we knew about it well in advance so that observations could be planned to look at 
how asteroids are affected by the Earth’s gravity when they come so close.” 

 The solar system is home to myriads of asteroids, small bodies left over from 
its formation. More are discovered every year. Only the largest asteroids are truly 
spherical, drawn into this shape by their self-gravity: most appear to be completely 
irregular in shape. They rotate with periods that are generally a matter of hours. 
And they have a wide range of compositions, from dense iron metal to low density 
rocks rich in organic compounds. Asteroids are often described as rubble piles, or 
loosely bound collections of smaller rock fragments. But these characteristics are 
not well understood, which is what led Dr. Moskovitz and his team to their study.

 The team is analyzing the data to measure any changes in the rotation rate of the 
asteroid after its close encounter with the Earth. Although asteroids are generally 
too small to resolve with optical telescopes, their irregular shape causes their 
brightness to change as they rotate. Measuring the rotation rate of the asteroid 
in this way allows the team to test models that predict how the Earth’s gravity can 
affect close-passing asteroids. 

 The first asteroids were discovered orbiting the Sun in the space between Mars 
and Jupiter, but recent discoveries make it clear that they are found throughout 
the solar system. Of particular interest from most people’s point of view are those 
characterized as near-Earth asteroids. These are objects whose orbits cross that of 
the Earth and allow them to make a close pass to our planet, with the potential of 
colliding on one of those passes. 

 Earth-crossing asteroids include 2012 DA14, which was discovered just a year 
ago. Its orbit is similar to the Earth, with a period of 366 days, but with a more 
elliptical shape and an inclination of 11 degrees to the plane of the Earth’s orbit 
around the Sun. Following its discovery and the recognition that it would make 
a very close pass on February 15, 2013, the team planned an observing campaign 
using telescopes in both the northern and southern hemisphere, including 
facilities in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, South Africa, Spain, Israel, Hawaii, 
Massachusetts, and Arizona.

 2012 DA14 is not expected to visit the vicinity of the Earth any time for at least 
the next century, but as we saw with the devastating impact of a much smaller, 10-
ton asteroid in Russia on the same day as the flyby, there are many thousands of 
near-Earth asteroids out there that can be dangerous. Observing campaigns like 
the present one will mean that scientists will have a much better understanding 
of the properties of near-Earth asteroids, and their potential for making trouble 
should they get too close!

 

You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.