Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, December 9, 2023

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 Saturday, December 9, 2023 


WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side

by Deanne Davis


“Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard, or too sad 
when you’ve got a Christmas tree in the living room.” 
Nora Roberts

“Christmas is not a time, nor a season, but a state of 
mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be

plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” 
Calvin Coolidge

“Christmas gifts suggestions: 

 To your enemy, forgiveness. 

 To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your 

 heart.

 To every child, a good example. To all, charity. 

 To yourself, respect.”

In case you haven’t thought about it, there are only 
16 days left till Christmas. Gasp! The beautiful tree 
pictured here today is my next door neighbor’s absolutely 
perfect live tree. Jay and Sarah had just brought 
it home and the delicious evergreen scent was straight out of some delightful forest. My 
tree, for several years now is the fake, fully lighted, straight out of the box from Michael’s, 
kind. I like it, it’s easy to deal with and I don’t have to worry about getting rid of it when it 
becomes a total fire hazard.

We all have special nostalgic Christmas treasures that fill our hearts with memories and 
happy thoughts; pictures of our children taken in Sunday School, our grandchildren’s 
little hands and feet on ceramic tiles, tiny felt Christmas stockings with everyone’s name 
glued on them with glitter. I even have some little glass ornaments which were my Aunt 
Helen’s, dating from the 1930s.

When we were first married, before we lived on Alegria, we rented a lovely house with a 
high beamed ceiling up on Canon Drive, right behind where Christian author, Fay Angus, 
lived, and when our first Christmas together arrived, I was about hysterical with excitement. 
We went down to the railroad yards where trains were coming in from wherever 
they loaded on those trees, I have a feeling it was the Pacific Northwest. Railroad workers 
pitched them off the cars and anyone who was standing there could pick out whatever 
tied-up tree they wanted. I don’t remember it costing very much. We selected an enormous 
Noble fir and tied it to the top of our little blue Ford Falcon. Got it home and it had to have 
been ten feet tall or taller and was the most gorgeous thing we’d ever seen. We had just a 
few things to put on it, but it was our tree and our home and our children opened presents 
under it and I will remember always what a wonderful time that was.

Have you walked through Kersting Court and admired our really handsome Christmas 
tree, with wonderful red bows, ornaments, and even a gift or two beneath? And the dreidel 
and the Festivus Pole, so named by Robert Gjerde. I think it gets better every year.

All this Christmas tree talk reminds me that my moment is coming, too, when it’s time to 
trim the tree. All the boxes of Christmas stuff have been opened, I’m trying to remember 
what I did last year with the manger scene that made it look so sweetly reverent, promise 
myself I’m not going to do so much this year, and then put up more than ever before. 
There’s no way I can’t put on all the things the children made through the years; the red 
globes that date from the beginning of our marriage. They are somewhat cracked and 
crazed now (occasionally our marriage was, too) but still precious in my sight.

I offered to make cookies and invited Jessie and Emily down to help me decorate but Emily 
had already decorated the tree at her house and was totally uninterested. So, I poured myself 
a glass of eggnog (yes, a little adult beverage mixed in) into a beautiful stemmed glass, 
grated a little fresh nutmeg over the top, put a few things on the tree and began to enjoy the 
process. You can, too, you know…now that the family has scattered like roaches when the 
light is turned on and peace reigns.

1. Sit down and admire your tree with all the lights on while enjoying your eggnog.

2. Put on the Christmas CD that YOU like. It could be The Messiah, or it could be the 
one that has “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.”

3. Allow joy to flood your heart, soul and mind. Rejoice! Peace on Earth! Good will 
to men!

4. Put a few more of these old treasures on the tree…the beaded ones Leah made one 
year, the cookie dough ones that were made the year everyone had chicken pox, little 
airplanes in honor of all the years John was a pilot and flew us to delightful places.

5. Think about that first Christmas night and that amazing heavenly light that guided 
shepherds and wisemen to that humble stable.

“On a night like this, centuries ago,

A brilliant star rose in the East, 

To show the Wisemen where to go.

They set out on a journey,

To find an unknown King.

Their hearts were filled with happiness, 

And praises they would sing.” *

Enjoy the preparations, dear friends and neighbors. Take time to do fun things, like lunch 
downtown and a walk through Kersting Court to admire the beautiful tree there…and 
rejoice! Emmanuel…God is with us.

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Christmas is just a few short weeks away and my book:

“Sunrises and Sunflowers Speak Hope”

Would be a really nice gift for everyone you know. It’s on Amazon.com

“Star of Wonder” a delightful Christmas Kindle story, where four lonely people find love 
following a strange new star on Christmas Eve, is there, too. 

(“A Night Like This” from “Star of Wonder – A Christmas Musical”

Book & Lyrics by Deanne Davis, Music by David Wheatley) *

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE 

SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE


Our holiday show begins this Friday! Cori Cable Kidder's Holiday Spectacular: A 1940s Christmas Revue 
will play on our stage from Nov 24 (the day after Thanksgiving) through Dec 23.

These original WWII-era military-themed holiday concerts star Sierra Madre Playhouse's Patsy Cline, Cori 
Cable Kidder, who received an Ovation nomination for her 2015 Sierra Madre Playhouse performance following 
a four-month run of sold-out performances of Always...Patsy Cline. You won't want to miss Cori 
performing military and holiday classics of the 1940s, with live musical accompaniment by Sean Paxton on 
piano and a 3-piece band. 


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