Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, April 6, 2019

MVNews this week:  Page A:3

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WALKING SIERRA MADRE by Deanne Davis

KATIE Tse..........This and That


CONTAGIOUS STUPIDITY

 No, this isn’t an article on politics. This one’s about driving. I’ll be the first to 
admit I’m not the world’s greatest driver. I attribute this to my being short. You 
see, no one designs cars with 4’ 10” people in mind. At that height you can’t even 
see the end of your hood. Makes parallel parking a bit rough. That’s my excuse, 
anyway. I’d rather park a mile away than risk skinning the side off my vehicle, or 
anyone else’s.

 One thing I have 
down though is right of 
way. That I understand. 
That I can do. But it’s 
become apparent to me 
that that’s not the case 
for some people on the 
south-bound lane of a 
street by my work.

 It’s an easy concept: if 
it’s a green light in both 
directions, traffic going 
straight or right has 
the right of way. Left-
bound traffic doesn’t. 
Simple. Apparently not 
so simple for people 
whose commute takes 
them south-bound 
on a certain street in 
Alhambra Monday 
through Friday. (See 
diagram)

 Thank God I’ve never 
been in any seriously 
close calls with these 
people, but I’ve had the occasional tense moment. Even pedestrians aren’t safe. The rule’s supposed 
to be that if a pedestrian is in the crosswalk, traffic is supposed to wait until they’ve crossed. Not so 
with the drivers by my work. Good luck with that one!

 It makes you wonder how this trend in stupidity got started. Because that’s the thing --they don’t 
ignore traffic laws everywhere in Alhambra. They don’t even consistently do it on that one street. It’s 
just South-bound drivers who seem to toss laws and safety to the wind.

 My theory is that one or two nincompoops erred in their use of left turns on their commutes, other 
drivers noticed, and people just assumed that this misbehavior was acceptable. It would be interesting 
to put this to the test and see if the same people who turn left against oncoming North-bound traffic 
do the same thing when pointed in the opposite direction. I swear, the problem seems to be limited 
to that one intersection (which of course means it could be a lot worse!). 

 I actually found myself in this very spot, heading South the other day. They were doing street work 
in San Gabriel, and I had to take a meandering route to work that led me through those fateful cross 
streets. Somehow I expected to feel an overwhelming urge to randomly make an illegal turn, seeing 
as so many motorists have been influenced to do so at that very place. But no such impulse overtook 
me. I made it through in one law-abiding piece.

 But the real hero of this story is our crossing guard. That man not only endures all kinds of weather, 
at ungodly hours of the day, but his position also puts him in harm’s way on a daily basis. Nerves of 
steel, that’s all I can say.

 When thinking about contagious stupidity, there seem to be endless areas in which people could be 
influenced. I’ve limited the scope of this article to traffic laws, but really the sky’s the limit, I suppose. 
Better to not dwell on it too much. A little stupidity goes a long way. 

 

“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

“Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most

live the longest.” 

Rev. Larry Lorenzoni

Yes, it was my birthday 
this past week. And, 
yes, I was 29 again. I’ve 
been 29 now quite a 
few times but like age, 
as mentioned above, 
how many times I’ve 
done that is unlisted. 
I remember turning 
thirty and crying 
because I wasn’t young 
anymore. Turning forty, 
I threw a tremendous 
party and invited all the 
splendid people I knew, 
including our oldest 
daughter, Leah, who 
was unable to attend as 
her son, Michael, was 
down with a raging 
case of chicken pox. I 
remember saying at the 
time that I was never 
going to do anything I 
didn’t want to do, ever 
again. Probably the 
funniest thing I ever 
said as life just doesn’t 
work that way. When I 
turned fifty my darling 
husband, John, and our 
daughter, Patti, threw a 
fabulous surprise party 
for me at our favorite 
restaurant, the dearly 
departed Burger Continental on Lake. Birthdays after that are sort of a blur but I have to say that 
each birthday has been a time of happiness, even these last couple which I have gotten through 
without my best friend and walking buddy, John. According to AARP, we get progressively 
happier with our lives. I think this is true. Our joints may be stiffer, it may be harder to get up 
and down and we eschew very low chairs as we will have to be assisted out of them, which is 
embarrassing, but with a wonderful family that I love, a home that brings me joy, work that 
delights me – yes, I do have a new book almost ready for publication – I am happy. I hope that 
each of your birthdays brings you increased happiness, too.

Speaking of happiness, Sierra Madre this past weekend has never been more beautiful with 
flowering plum trees in almost every yard – my son-in-law, Chuck, who knows the real name of 
every flowering anything says these are “Tabebuia.” They are magnificent, whatever you call them. 
There are masses of purple groundcover flowing over walls; our own personal mountains are a 
succulent green, the topiary horse on Grandview just east of Baldwin is gorgeous and everywhere 
I looked there was something beautiful to see. What an exquisite town we live in! And just in case 
you didn’t know, Sierra Madre has been ranked the 5th safest city in California. Nice! 

“It is better to sit in a boat thinking about God than to sit in a church thinking about fishing.”

“There is always time for one more cast.” Homer Circle

Leah and I went to take a look at the Huck Finn Fishing Derby on Saturday morning and were 
delighted to see dozens of tents where families camped overnight and scores of children fishing 
with their moms and dads. I took this picture of Bryant who was just successfully hauling in a 
piece of lake bottom plant but on closer inspection, we saw that he had caught three really big 
fish, each at least a foot long, there in the water right beside him. 

The Huck Finn Fishing Derby and Campout is an annual event hosted by the Community 
Services Department and is a terrific opportunity for families to experience camping and fishing 
without having to drive hundreds of miles. The day was perfect for this, in the low 80s, sunny, 
blue skies and plenty of fish being caught.

I’m thinking that everyone did something delicious with their fish as there’s nothing tastier than 
fresh fish. Here’s one to try the next time you catch trout, which is a delicate fish with great flavor 
so it doesn’t need too many ingredients to enhance it. So, a large skillet on your stove top with 
olive oil and a little butter, garlic, lemon juice, white wine and fresh parsley. That’s it. As trout 
fillets are usually pretty thin, you don’t want to overcook them. This whole recipe, start to finish is 
less than 30 minutes and you’ll end up with an incredible meal. Throw in a salad and some garlic 
bread and you can call it a feast! 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis – check out The Crown,

now that Easter is on its way. It will change your perspective on what happened on the Hill 
called Golgotha.

Star of Wonder the CD is now on TuneCore! Take a look!

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@playwrightdd


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

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