Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 9, 2016

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 9, 2016 


Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis


“Age is a number and mine is unlisted!”

“Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you 
don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” Jack Benny

“Aging seems to be the only available way to live a 
long life.” Daniel Francois Esprit Auber

“A birthday is just the first day of another 365-
day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip!”

Today is Monday and it’s my birthday! I shall be 
29....again. It is also the birthday of our youngest 
grandchild, Brady Benjamin Davis, who is, 
obviously, an exceptional child who will grow 
up to be a brilliant writer, musician, physicist, 
missionary, astronaut, doctor or explorer...
tracking and conquering heretofore unknown 
territory. Well, after all, he chose my birthday 
for his entrance into the world and has been 
growing, flourishing and is now on the verge 
of running. He enjoyed his party tremendously 
yesterday and, with quantities of family watching 
and cheering him on, totally demolished a 
cupcake covered with bright green icing and 
decorated his face, hair, hands and arms with it. 
His mommy and daddy did not turn the hose on 
him and his highchair, which was my suggestion, 
but, instead, swabbed him off with Baby Wipes. 
And I have pictures to prove it.

 Many families downplay birthdays, I 
understand there are even people who don’t 
acknowledge them at all, which seems to me 
like a very sad idea. Our family loves birthdays. 
We love to celebrate, give each other stuff, make 
cake, eat ice cream, barbeque hamburgers, open 
relatively decent wine, sing loudly and as off-
key as possible that good ol’ “Happy Birthday to 
you!” song, make wishes and blow out candles. 

 Speaking of blowing out candles, when my 
father-in-law, Jay Earl Davis, was well into his 
70’s, we all went over to their house at 326 So. 
Van Ness Avenue in Los Angeles, where he 
and John’s mom, Leila, had lived forever. We 
brought cake, made by me, and covered it with 
candles. It was quite a pyrotechnic display when 
they were all lit and we sang, told him to make 
a wish, and he took a breath and went: PUH! 
And they were all out! We have never seen this 
feat repeated in our family, which now includes 
quite a few sturdy young people with great lung 
capacity. Legendary is how we describe it.

 As far as gifts are concerned, most of our 
grandchildren have now reached the age where 
we ask them what they want and they tell us. 
Seriously, isn’t it the nicest thing in the world to 
open your gift and be able to honestly say, “That’s 
just what I wanted!” This is going to sound really 
pathetic, but my absolute favorite gift now is a 
Home Depot gift card. I know, pathetic...but 
for me, it means tons of rose food, more of that 
fabulous rubber mulch stuff and more bricks for 
The Great Wall of Deanne, which I have been 
building for several years now. As this Wall is 
probably no more than ten or fifteen feet long 
and I only want it to be three bricks high, many 
people, myself included, wonder what has taken 
so long. Well, it’s like this...if the day is cold, 
I really don’t especially want to be out in it. If 
the day is hot, I’d much rather be enjoying our 
garden and reading a book under our umbrella 
and sipping something cold. So the Wall goes 
on forever. Our son, John and his wife, Michon, 
parents of the exceptional one-year-old Brady, 
gave me a Home Depot card yesterday and I’ll be 
there loading up my cart later this week.

 When I turned thirty, I cried because I thought 
I wasn’t young anymore. How hysterical is that! 
When I turned forty, I gave a really splendid 
party, invited only fabulous people, including 
our oldest daughter, Leah, who couldn’t attend 
because her son, Michael, had a raging case of 
chicken pox. At this party I vividly remember 
stating that now that I was forty, I was never 
going to do anything I didn’t want to do ever 
again. Probably the funniest thing I ever said. 
Life doesn’t work that way, does it! When I was 
fifty, my husband and children threw a terrific 
surprise party for me at dear departed Burger 
Continental. My mother and father, who had 
been divorced since I was a toddler, were there in 
the same room, sat next to each other, exchanged 
pleasantries and I have pictures to prove it!

 My husband and favorite person to do anything 
at all with, is taking me to Zugo’s tonight for 
birthday dinner and we will laugh and talk about 
our life together...and plan that next trip to 
Home Depot.

 When your birthday rolls around, I hope 
quantities of friends and family celebrate you 
with cake, ice cream, singing and blowing out 
candles. If you practice that PUH! technique, 
you might end up being legendary in your 
family, too! In any case, Happy Birthday to you, 
whenever it is, and best wishes for many more, 
along with best wishes for health, happiness and 
a Home Depot gift card.

 Speaking of wonderful things coming up, you 
can Love your Library during their annual Open 
House as they celebrate community partnerships, 
the craft of book-writing, and their valued 
patrons. Saturday, April 16, 2016, from 10:00-
Noon. There will be an Author Panel - What it 
takes to write and publish! Moderated by Ken 
Goldstein. Panelists: Dianne Dixon, Merrill Joan 
Gerber, Jonathan Hennessy, and Michele Zack. 
Additional Authors including: Lida 
Bushloper, B.K. DePaolis, R.K. Jackson, 
Chip Jacobs, Susan Lendroth, Karen Maezen 
Miller, David Richardson, Dan Richter, Gisele 
Samaan, Lynn Snowden and, yes, me, too, 
will be there to sign books. Come meet me! 


 Check out my book page on Amazon.com: 
DeanneDavis@Amazon.com

 You might like my blog, too: 

www.authordeanne.com

City of Sierra Madre

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

From: The City of Sierra Madre

Subject: MUNICIPAL CODE TEXT AMENDMENT 16-01 (MCTA 16-01) 

Applicant: City of Sierra Madre

Project Location: Properties in the City of Sierra Madre, County of Los Angeles, State of California

The City of Sierra Madre gives notice, pursuant to State of California law, that the Planning Commission will conduct 
a public hearing to consider recommending adoption of an ordinance amending Chapter 17.38 (“Institutional Zone”) 
including Sections 17.38.010 (“Purpose and intent”), 17.38.020 (“Permitted uses”), 17.38.030 (“Conditional use 
permit required), 17.38.040 (“Requirements for new structures or new principal uses”), and 17.38.050 (“Modifications 
to development standards”.) Following a Planning Commission recommendation for approval, the proposed text 
amendment will be forwarded to the City Council for consideration. 

DATE AND TIME OF HEARING PLACE OF HEARING

City of Sierra Madre City of Sierra Madre

Planning Commission meeting City Council Chambers

Thursday, April 21, 2016 232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd.

(Hearing begins at 7:00 p.m.) Sierra Madre, CA 

All interested persons may attend this meeting and the Planning Commission will hear them with respect thereto.

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The project qualifies for an exemption from the California Environmental 
Quality Act review pursuant to Title 14, Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Code of Regulations as it can be seen with 
certainty that there is no possibility the adoption of this Ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment, 
because it will impose greater limitations on development in the City thereby serving to reduce potential significant adverse 
environmental impacts. 

APPEAL: The decision of the Planning Commission is subject to a 10-day appeal period to the City Council. If in the 
future anyone wishes to challenge the decision of the Planning Commission in court, one may be limited to raising the 
issues that were raised or presented in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or before, the 
scheduled public hearing. For further information on this subject, please contact the Development Services Department at 
(626) 355-7138. 


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Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com