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 Mountain Views News Saturday, January 27, 2024 


GRINGO is GREAT!

Gringo, age 6, is just about 
purr-fect: he sports a gorgeous 
flame point fur coat, exotic 
green eyes, and is cuddly and 
friendly with everyone—even 
other cats. Besides that, he’s 
healthy and totally vetted and 
microchipped. 

He would do best with 
someone who works from 
home to give him lots of 
cuddles and attention. A 
couple or single person 
would be ideal. A friendly resident cat would be nice, too. 
He’s been waiting soooo long for someone to adopt him—
such a good boy. 

See more pictures and cute video of Gringo at 

www.lifelineforpets.org/gringo.html or use the QR code.

POETRY AT 4 A.M.

[This is an excerpt from Nyerges’ “Watermelon Dreams” book, available from Amazon. 
Information about Nyerges’ classes and writings available at www.SchoolofSelf-
Reliance.com]

Around age 11, following in the footsteps of all of my older brothers, I began 
delivering newspapers for the Pasa-dena Star News. By the time I was in 8th 
grade, I took a job assisting a manager of a local newspaper route. His job 
was to deliver a bundle of papers to various boys throughout the Pasadena 
area, and then make sure those boys got up before school, folded the papers, 
and delivered them to each house on their bicycles. I had to awaken at 4 a.m., 
usually 6 days a week, and sometimes 7. I folded and tied hundreds of papers every morning 
for the men who delivered papers by car, and then I had to get home in time to get to school.

After tying papers and getting them to the men’s cars, and the early fury of activity, there 
was sometimes nothing to do but wait for my boss to come back from the field and get me 
home or to school.

It was in these early morning quiet times, while most of the world was sleeping, that I began 
to think about the meaning of life, and the motivations that move people to do what they do 
life-long. Sitting at a table where there was lots of paper, and plenty of pens, I began to write 
poetry.

Poetry seemed a lot better than regular prose because it was artistic, and was open to many 
interpretations. Since I was exploring so many ideas in my mind, though I tried to make the 
poetry rhyme, it didn’t always.

I had a lot on my mind when I had the time to think. I sought spiritual insight, and 
meaning to a world that seemed mostly meaningless, and haphazard. Poetry was not about 
writing flowing words on paper. Poetry was the end result of finding expression of the ideas 
that were deep in my psyche, as well as my fears, and ideals, and projections into the future. 
And to be honest, this was a very difficult time in my life. Getting up very early eve-ry day 
actually meant that I sometimes slept only four hours, and was tired a lot. The poetry flowed 
from me not as beautiful flowers from the garden, but more like the blood flowing from a 
tortured man. It was my attempt to find meaning, and to capture value, in the only way I 
knew during a time of personal insecurity and inner instabil-ity. I realized, looking back, 
that I had grown internally very isolated, and often depressed. 

In time, I had a collection of 40 or more of these poems that I really liked, and that I felt were 
meaningful. Some were very short and others were long. Some I discarded when I felt that it 
did not capture any meaningful idea. 

I mostly wrote for myself, for my own pleasure of seeking and finding a rhythm to words, a 
music to words that also had meaning. It was work but I enjoyed the process and the result. 
I was too shy to do public readings.

But on a few rare occasions, someone knew that I did these obscure writings, and asked to 
see some, or have me read them. On one such rare occasion, George and his cousin Nancy 
were in my attic bedroom. We were all talk-ing about all the things that teens talk about. We 
knew the solutions to all the world’s problems though we seemed emotional messes most of 
the time. George knew about my poetry, and asked me to read some. I don’t know if he really 
wanted to hear it, but he was at least enthusiastic. It’s possible he only wanted Nancy to hear 
the poetry. Nancy and I liked one another, but were too shy to actually talk to one another, 
and perhaps George was trying to break the ice.

I remember reading one short piece, and then trying to explain what it meant in the context 
of when I wrote it. To my surprise and amazement, they expressed great interest and seemed 
to delight in these short poetic stories that seemed to convey some sort of alternate or narrow 
reality. I began to notice that Nancy seemed ever more visi-bly excited at the stories, and this 
was expressed as an excitement towards me. I had heard of the power of words, and now I was 
seeing the words take on a power of their own. If the result was that a girl that I liked then 
liked me even more, well, that was OK with me! I did not really care if she liked the poetry 
or me, since the net result was the same.

Eventually, it was late, and George and 
Nancy departed for the night.

In the days that followed, George said 
to me, “Nancy really digs you.” That 
really made me feel good, and made 
me happy, uplifted. Someone likes 
me, and I like her. Yet, she was only 
in town periodically, and I still didn’t 
know how to talk to girls, and I was still 
just 14 or so. I recall writing her a letter 
to her home in Fresno. And Fresno 
might as well have been Mars, but I still 
thought about Nancy a lot, even though 
our paths in life rarely crossed.


Pet of the Week

 
Captain is a regal German Shepherd who is as nice as he 
is handsome! Captain is about 4 years old, and ready to be 
someone’s best buddy!

 Captain has been out on a number of field trips and he’s 
become a favorite of the Pasadena Humane Volunteers. 
He is very friendly around all the people he’s met, even a 
curious toddler - he's been an ideal ambassador! 

 He walks right by your side and is completely relaxed 
while you take a leisurely walk in the neighborhood. 
When you stop for a break, he sits right by your side and 
takes it all in.

 Captain appears to have done some training and responds 
very well to training cues. He’s one smart cookie! 

 Captain is ready to go home with you- he's available for 
a 10-day adoption trial as well to make sure he’s a good fit 
for your home! 

 The adoption fee for dogs is $150. All dog adoptions include spay or neuter, microchip, and 
age-appropriate vaccines. 

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness exam from VCA Animal 
Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care for your pet. 

 View photos of adoptable pets and schedule an adoption appointment at pasadenahumane.
org. Adoptions are by appointment only, and new adoption appointments are available every 
Sunday and Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Limited same-day appointments are available during 
weekend Visiting Hours. Check website for times.


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