Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 28, 2015

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Mountain View News Saturday, February 28, 2015 

Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis

“Small pleasures, small pleasures, who would deny 
us these…”

If you’re familiar with the musical, “Oliver!” 
(music and lyrics by Lionel Bart, based on the 
Charles Dickens story) you’ll remember that “Small 
Pleasures” is sung by Nancy, a lady of the London 
street, who befriends Fagin, the Artful Dodger and 
little Oliver. Nancy, a lovely person with a big heart, 
a great red dress and one of the best songs in the 
show, loves a really horrible guy, Bill Sykes, who is 
a violent thug. The song goes on with “gin toddies, 
large measures, no skimpin’ if you please…” which 
doesn’t really fit with the small pleasures I’m talking 
about. But, hey, it’s a great musical and I wouldn’t 
mind seeing it again.

 What’s that got to do with walking Sierra Madre? 
Well, a tenuous bit. It was running through my 
mind this morning as we were walking, my Trail-
hiking walking buddy, John, and I up Baldwin to 
Carter and over to Grove. The flowering plums or 
cherries or whatever they are, are blooming with 
abandon up there and after the rain earlier this 
week, everybody’s yard is clean, green, and lovely. 
Ours is, too, with the purple flowering potato trees 
at our front gate doing their best to grow together 
and totally block the path. Hawthorne is blooming 
and I couldn’t resist putting in a bragging photo 
of our volunteer tomatoes. I even gave them some 
tomato food as a reward. The coffee grounds I’ve 
been hoarding are all out on the azaleas and some 
weeds even got pulled.

 OK, here comes the small pleasures part. The 
sun is shining, it’s warm and peaceful and I took 
time to cut back six of our roses, without stabbing 
myself once. I finally pruned off the outrageously 
tall succulents from the pots on our porch and 
created a new garden in the last one that needed 
planting. The first of the citrus feedings happened 
today in this nice wet ground and two magnificent 
butterflies played tag right by me while I cut back 
the spent daffodils. The spot on the carpet I’ve been 
walking past for weeks finally got cleaned today. The 
baby gift that needed wrapping for the shower this 
coming Saturday isn’t sitting on the kitchen floor in 
a Carter’s bag anymore and the package I sent to my 
Texas girls, containing a purple unicorn for Emily 
and a Frozen pop-up game for Jessie arrived today, 
just in time, as they were having their second snow 
day and the mommy was one knot away from the 
end of her rope. See? Small pleasures!

 Another small pleasure is seeing friends and 
family on Facebook who are involved in Daddy-
Daughter dances. We treasure the pictures of the 
Texas mommy, our daughter, Crissy, and her Dad at 
the Daddy-Daughter dances at Alverno. Now Crissy 
is posting pictures of her daughter, Jessie, who is 
seven and her daddy, Chris, dressed for their Daddy-
Daughter dance. Yep, small pleasures.

 “Miss Jessie and her Daddy talked and laughed till 
almost eight.

 No, they didn’t dance a single dance,

Not a foxtrot or a waltz.

 They didn’t stand in the picture line, which suited 
them just fine.

 Miss Jessie and her Daddy, made memories last 
night.

She looked so lovely and he looked just grand,

An evening together, dressed up, that’s all,

And Miss Jessie, Cinderella, and her Daddy, the 
Prince,

Enjoyed every minute at the Wally Watkins 
Elementary ball.”

 Hope you come across a few small pleasures this 
week, that a butterfly dances over your head and 
you find some daffodils you had forgotten you had 
planted. 

 

Hey Walking Sierra Madre friends…. 

Check out my book page: Amazon.com: Deanne 
Davis

 Blog: www.authordeanne.com

 My book: “Tablespoon of Love, Tablespoon of 
Laughter” is a small pleasure!


Sierra Madre Police Blotter

During the week of Sunday, February 15th, to 
Sunday, February 22nd, the Sierra Madre Police 
Department responded to approximately 267 
calls for service.

Wednesday, February 18th

 At 9:32 am, Sierra Madre Police responded 
to the location of 200 N. Michillinda Ave. 
regarding stolen gardening equipment. Upon 
arrival, Officers were informed by the victim 
that he was informed by one of his friends that 
a compartment to his work truck that he parks 
at the location, was open. Upon arriving at the 
location and inspecting his truck, the victim 
noticed several pieces of equipment were missing, 
totaling at about $2,800. The victim informed 
Officers that he typically leaves the vehicle keys 
hidden on the vehicle, and believes they were 
used to access the compartment as there were 
no signs of forced entry. After inspecting the 
truck, the victim inspected his work van parked 
within the same location and discovered several 
more items were missing totaling over $1,500. 
The victim believes the items were stolen by an 
employee, who had stolen gasoline from him in 
the past. The employee had knowledge of where 
the keys are left and what equipment was valued 
the most. The victim attempted to contact the 
employee after he failed to show to work that 
morning and discovered the phone number 
had been disconnected. A background history 
revealed the employee had an extensive criminal 
history, including burglary. This case has been 
forwarded to the Detectives Bureau. 

 At 11:48 am, Sierra Madre Police responded 
to the 400 Block of Foothill Ave. regarding a 
theft of a package after dispatch was informed 
by the victim that a young Hispanic male just 
stole a package from her porch. The victim 
witnessed the suspect get into a dark colored 
sedan and provided a partial license plate to 
responding Officers. As Officers performed a 
search of the area and located the vehicle with 
an older male Hispanic. While conducting the 
investigation, Officers were flagged down by a 
passerby who witnessed the vehicle park a short 
distance away and saw a young Hispanic male 
leave from the passenger side. A short time 
later the suspect was located and brought into 
custody. Upon searching the vehicle, Officers 
located the stolen package, various other 
items that may have been stolen in previous 
incidents, and burglary tools. This case has 
been forwarded to the Pasadena District 
Attorney’s Officer. 

Saturday, February 21st

 At 7:09 pm, Sierra Madre Police responded 
to the 40 Block of Windsor Lane regarding a 
vandalism report. The victim informed Officers 
that at around 7 pm, she heard the sound of 
someone pounding on the door twice. Afraid to 
approach the door, the victim was unable to see 
any possible suspects. Several minutes later, the 
victim realized that the window pane from the 
front door had been cracked. The estimated cost 
in damage was set at $500. This case has been 
forwarded to the Detectives Bureau. 

 
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