Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, January 6, 2024

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 Saturday, January 6, 2024 


WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side

by Deanne Davis

“You pray for the hungry. Then 
you feed them. That’s how 
prayer works.” Pope Francis

“Tomorrow is the first blank 
page of a 365-page book. Write a 
good one!” Brad Paisley

“There are far better things 
ahead than any we leave 
behind.” C.S. Lewis

“Hope smiles from the threshold 
of the year to come, whispering, 
‘It will be happier.’”

Alfred Lord Tennyson

It’s a New Year…finally! I saw 
somebody or other on some 
Food Network show talking 
about that fine old Southern 
tradition of devouring a bowl of 
black-eyed peas on New Year’s 
Day. My grandmother, Louise 
Pitzer Sessions, was born in 
Texas (none of us knew exactly 
what year as she felt that was 
nobody’s business but her own), 
raised in Virginia and eventually ended up in California. She was a great believer 
in that black-eyed peas thing as she totally agreed with the philosophy that said 
eating them on New Year’s Day would bring wealth and success in the coming 
year. That really never happened but she made really incredible cornbread to go 
with them. That was my favorite part. 

Here’s a little excellent superstition to go with your black-eyed peas:

There are several DO NOT’s if you want to keep your black-eyed pea dishes “lucky”: 

1. Do not add chicken stock as chickens and other fowl move backward as 
they eat.

2. Do not use beef, as a cow will move forward, sideways and backwards as 
they graze, whereas, a pig always pushes forward as it eats.

3. Do not use canned peas as they’ve already swelled so your luck will not 
“swell” as it will with dried peas.

My grandmother subscribed to a couple of these: She used lots of bacon in her peas 
and she had no intention of buying dried peas, picking through them to find any 
duds or whatever, soaking them for hours and so forth. She marched across the 
street to the Market Basket and bought a couple of cans of whatever was on sale. 
She cut up a couple of onions, several pieces of bacon, fried those together till they 
were soft and slightly brown, drained out the bacon fat, added the peas and let the 
whole thing simmer together for an hour or so while she made the cornbread.

Hers was the best I’ve ever had. No, I don’t have her recipe. I wish I did. Yes, New 
Year’s Day has come and gone, but it’s probably not to late to treat yourself to some 
black-eyed peas.

The Christmas bills haven’t started showing up yet, which means I’m living in 
a happy sense of false security that my Discover bill won’t be too bad at all. (Go 
ahead, laugh!) But in the realm of shopping, I came across an article about how 
much the 12 Days of Christmas would cost this past year. The cost only increased 
by 2.7%, instead of 2022’s 10.5%. The combined cost for all twelve gifts featured 
in the famous Christmas carol totals: $46,730. In case you haven’t seen “Candy 
Cane Lane” on whatever streaming service it’s on, featuring Eddie Murphy and 
Tracee Ellis Ross, treat yourself. Part of the story is, of course, of Christmas 
light competition, but this movie takes a different twist involving the 12 days of 
Christmas. We all watched it Christmas Day and enjoyed it thoroughly. Funny, 
charming, different. Give it a shot.

Didn’t you love the Rose Parade! Best one ever! The Sierra Madre Float, Enchanted 
Music Box, was just exquisite with the carousel horses. Always a prize winner, this 
year we came home with the Queen’s Award for most outstanding presentation of 
roses. The music, the carousel going around, our lovely princesses waving at the 
cheering crowd. It was just so special and so absolutely beautiful.

So many enormous bands but, honestly, I would love to have seen the Sierra Madre 
City College Band in there somewhere. Our Arabian Horse Association group 
was awesome. Sierra Madre’s own Robert and Barbara Gjerde’s son, Tyler, was 
marching with the Tournament of Roses Honor Band, playing a bass drum. Pretty 
cool!

One last New Year’s tip: Go see “Wonka!” It was fun, uplifting, delightful and 
you can even take the kids. School resumes next Monday and many of us will be 
rejoicing. There might even be dancing in the streets. 

The picture this week is another Sierra Madre tradition, the snowman on Baldwin 
by Kersting Court. He is shown here with Joe and Jacqui Pergola. Our snow man 
is courtesy of I think, by the Biely Family. 

Have a great week, dear friends and neighbors and keep in mind…

 “Hope is being able to see there is light in spite of all the darkness.” Desmond 
Tutu

 “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important 
thing is not to stop questioning.” Albert Einstein

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Take a look! There are interesting goodies galore for

You Kindle readers and even an actual book or two for you

“I need to hold it in my hands” readers.


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