Sierra Madre | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, April 6, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||
3 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||