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Saturday, April 20, 2024 


Weather Wise

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side

by Deanne Davis

6-Day Forecast Sierra Madre, Ca.


“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we 
borrow it from our children.” Native American Proverb

“He that plants trees loves others beside himself.” 

Thomas Fuller

“The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth.” 
Chief Seattle

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find 
reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” 
Rachel Carson

Monday is Earth Day. First held on April 22, 1970, Earth 
Day now includes a wide range of events coordinated 
globally by Earthday.org, including a billion people in 
more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2024 
is “Planet vs. Plastics.” Here’s a really alarming fact you 
probably already know: “Plastic accumulating in our 
oceans and on our beaches has become a global crisis. 
Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in swirling 
convergences that make up about 40 percent of the world’s 
ocean surfaces. At current rates, plastic is expected to 
outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050.” (Center for 
Biological Diversity) 

We can celebrate our own personal Earth Day every 
day as we take a walk ‘round the neighborhood. If we 
look, we can see bees and hummingbirds everywhere 
feasting on the flowers which are all over the place now. 
There is such delight to be enjoyed in my own backyard. 
Golden Bells are starting to bloom, lemon and orange 
trees have blossomed and the bees do love their citrus. 
Cactus blossoms have been coming and going. They are 
so beautiful but they only last a day. This week’s picture is 
cactus blossoms. If you look closely, you’ll see bees.

Joel Sartore, founder of the National Geographic Photo 
Ark Project, who has taken portraits of over 15,000 
species of creatures, says, “You can’t go wrong by planting 
native plants. Plant milkweed to help save the Monarch 
butterfly and nectar-bearing plants to bring back bees. 
Here are a few fun facts about those amazing little guys:

• A bee produces a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

• To produce a kilogram of honey, bees fly the 
equivalent of three times around the world in air miles.

• Bees really don’t want to sting you because that 
means the end of their life.

• There are more than 20,000 different species of 
bees, found on every continent except Antartica.

• The greatest contribution of bees and other 
pollinators, like those butterflies we just mentioned, is 
the pollination of nearly three quarters of the plants that 
produce 90% of the world’s food. A third of the world’s 
food production depends on bees. Think of it this way: 
every third spoonful of food depends on pollination!

Bees lead to thinking about Noah, God’s protector of 
the creatures, putting the finishing touches on the Ark, 
this enormous boat the likes of which no one has ever 
seen or imagined before. Noah is sweating in the sun, 
hammering in the last few nails, bringing aboard bales of 
hay and everything it’s going to take to provide gourmet 
feasts for two of every kind of bird, beast and bug. His 
neighbors are sitting in the shade on their porches with 
pitchers of margaritas and bowls

of chips and guacamole laughing at him. “Look at that 
guy! Rain? He keeps talking about rain and floods and 
doom and gloom.” “Bummer, dude!” Tiny clouds are 
forming in the sky but Noah’s neighbors don’t notice at 
all. What they do notice is there seem to be more bees 
buzzing around than usual. The bees look at the people, 
smell the margaritas and move on quickly. Nothing there 
to eat.

Noah notices them, too, and has a brief consultation with 
The Lord as to how to bring them

onboard. He sees a tree branch hanging heavy with 
something that is attracting the bees. Slipping his 
hammer back into his tool belt, Noah follows the bees, 
who seem to be inviting him to come see what they are 
doing. Taking a moment to stretch his aching back and 
sip a little water, Noah steps off the Ark and follows the 
bees, noticing as he goes that they are flying in and out 
of the fragrant flowers along the pathway to the tree. The 
air is fragrant and Noah appreciates a moment away from 
his labor.

One bee larger than all the others flies to Noah and 
perches on his hand. She seems to nestle

there, knowing she is safe. God opens Noah’s ears and he 
can hear what she is asking,

entreating. “Please, Noah, bring us all. Bring our family.” 
She lifts her heavy body off his

hand and leads him forward. As Noah walks toward her 
home, more bees begin to cluster

around the queen and link to each other’s bodies, hanging 
onto their legs and arms to

create a form that keeps the family together.

“Yes!” God says. “Bring them all! They will give you 
honey to make your bread and

comfort at the end of the day to sweeten your tea.” 
Noah sees that the branch can easily be broken off and 
he gently does exactly that. With bees dancing happily 
around him, he takes the hive back to the Ark. Nailing a 
crosspiece across two beams, he secures the hive and goes 
back to work. “We will need these when we reach land,” 
he says, and thanks God for providing bees which will 
bring new life in a new land.

If you’re looking at seed packets at Home Depot, why not 
bring home some sunflowers, dahlias,

rosemary, zinnias. They look fabulous, smell wonderful 
and bees like them.

Check out my book page: Deanne Davis: Amazon.com

Great stories there about my granddad searching for gold,

“The Fever Never Ends”

 Sun Sunny Hi 80s Lows 50s 

 Mon: Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s 

 Tues: Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s 

 Wed: Cloudy Hi 70s Lows 50s

 Thur: Cloudy Hi 70s Lows 50s 

 Fri: Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s

Forecasts courtesy of the National Weather Service

SIERRA MADRE CITY MEETINGS

SIERRA MADRE CITY 

COUNCIL MEETING

APRIL 23, 2024 5:30pm

THIS MEETING WILL BE HELD 
IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS!

As part of the City of Sierra Madre’s 

COVID-19 transparency efforts and The 
Brown Act provides the public with an opportunity 
to make public comments at any 
public meeting. Public comment may also be 
made by e-mail to PublicComment@CityofSierraMadre.
com by 3:00 p.m. on the day of 
the meeting. 

Emails will be acknowledged at the Council 
meeting and filed into public record. The 
public may also comment in person at the 
meeting.

The meetings will be streamed live on Foothills 
Media website at foothillsmedia.org/sierramadre 
and broadcast on Government 

Access Channel 3 (Spectrum)..



1630 AM EMERGENCY RADIO & 

Free on-air publicity for local events

 Sierra Madre’s EMERGENCY radio station is now accepting scripts for 
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about community events. PSAs 
will be broadcast on the air at no charge. The station operates 24/7 and can 
be heard at 1630 on the AM dial.

 Any local non-profit or non-commercial organization can have their 
event information broadcast to the public on Sierra Madre Community 
Information Radio. The station covers the city of Sierra Madre, plus 
surrounding areas of Pasadena, Arcadia, and Monrovia. 

Your event must:

• Benefit a non-commercial or non-profit entity
• Be open to the public
• Be of general interest to local citizens


Just 
write a Public Service Announcement that describes your event and 
e-mail it to radio@cityofsierramadre.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