Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, August 12, 2017

MVNews this week:  Page A:3

Mountain View News Saturday, August 12, 2017 3 Mountain View News Saturday, August 12, 2017 3 
Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side



by Deanne Davis 

This week, this quote fits perfectly! 

“August in sub-Saharan Los Angeles is one of thegreat and awful tests of one’s endurance, sanity andstamina.” 

Henry Rollins 

The beginning of last week was an absolute nightmare,
weather-wise, just as we were returning from Texaswhere we celebrated granddaughter, Emily’s, 7thbirthday and her mommy’s somewhat older birthday.
Gosh, it was just like Texas here.. hot and humid. 
Then it cooled down into the high 90’s. Woo hoo!

We continually offer thanksgiving to the fine mindswho came up with air conditioning and, thanks toWikipedia, here’s something you might not knowabout this best invention ever: The basic conceptbehind air conditioning is said to have happened inancient Egypt, where reeds were hung in windowsand moistened with trickling water. The evaporationof water cooled the air blowing through the window.
Neat! This process also made the air more humid,
which was beneficial in that dry desert climate (gotthat right!). In ancient Rome, water from aqueductswas circulated through the walls of certain houses(think mansions!) to cool them. 2nd century Chineseinventor Ding Huan of the Han Dynasty invented arotary fan for air conditioning, with 7 wheels, 10 ft. indiameter, manually powered by prisoners of the time.
Emperor Xuanzong (712-762) of the Tang Dynastyhad the “cool hall” built in the imperial palace whichused water-powered fan wheels for air conditioning,
as well as rising jet streams of water from fountains. Inthe 17th century, Cornelis Drebbel “turned summerinto winter” for James 1st of England by adding saltto water. And we, here in the 21st century just pressa button and enjoy instant relief... thank you moderntechnology! We are beyond grateful!

Walking Sierra Madre has been a challenge whenit’s in the mid-70’s at six in the morning. All thesucculents around town look fabulous and we don’t 
look at the lawn anymore. You probably don’t either.
We are, however, talking seriously with our landscapeexpert Gerardo Jimenez about covering the lowerpart of our yard with wood chips, which would lookso much better than the dirt and dead grass that is allthat’s left of the tons of sod we put in down there afew years back, well, 18 to be exact, when daughter,
Crissy, was planning her wedding reception here. Itwas beautiful, friends and neighbors, and we wateredit constantly. And that’s when we first met raccoons,
who rolled up our new sod when it was just a week ortwo old, and cast it aside to look for worms and grubs.
Ah! Good times! 

Going to the bank this morning, we noticed thisnifty thermometer thing in Kersting Court, giving usa terrifying visual about our water situation, whichpromptly covered us with guilt as we haven’t been asgood about water usage as we were when the watershortages were first brought to our attention. I haveresolved anew to use less and make it go further.
Currently we are only trying to keep our trees aliveand wish we could have a huge thunder and lightningstorm like we had in Texas which was accompaniedby tumultuous rain. Yes, we had a little rain here andwe’re sure glad we didn’t have what happened in Actona few days ago when the entire town was flooded andfolks were being rescued out of their pickup trucks byhelicopters. That’s more that we need. Seriously! 


St. Rita’s is doing fabulous renovations and whentheir students start back to school, they are going tobe elated with what they find. New windows, betterA/C. Good work St. Rita’s! You have such a beautifulchurch and when it’s all spruced up and painted, itwill be even more beautiful. 

By this time next week, all the kids at Sierra MadreElementary will be back in school. Go see the Emojimovie, kids, it was great fun!

Speaking of going to Texas, we drove over to FortWorth to see Dinosaurs Live! This was so cool. Hugerobotic dinosaurs that moved their heads and looked 
as terrifying as possible. This was a tremendousmerchandising opportunity and we got out fairlycheaply with just a stuffed dinosaur apiece for Jessieand Emily at a mere $19.95. Here are our girlsfearlessly riding a terrifying dinosaur.

May all your students have the best year ever, thebest teachers ever, and success in all they do thiscoming school year. 

“The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the 
book.” Anonymous 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Blog: www.authordeanne.com 

“A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”
is now available at Sunrise Books + Coffee at Pasadena 
First Church of the Nazarene – just down the road onSierra Madre Blvd. 

Kindle readers, give yourself the gift of:
Just Dessert: A Fall Fantasy

It’s on Amazon.com on my book page!

Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@
playwrightdd 

SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER 


During this time period, the Sierra Madre PoliceDepartment responded to approximately 4 2 9 dayand night time calls for service. 

Wednesday August 2 At about 4:09 p.m., officersresponded to the 500 block of Lotus Lane regardingthe theft of utility services and vandalism of the watermain after water service was disconnected by the City.
The water main was tampered with enabling water tothe house. Case to Detectives pending informationfrom SMWD on when the water was shut off and the 
tampering occurred. 

4:45 p.m. A fraud report was taken at the SMPDstation from a victim of a phone scam. The victim 
stated that she was scammed into giving personalinformation for employment purposes. Case toDetectives Thursday, August 3 At 6:00 p.m., a victimreported an unknown suspect(s) attempted to use hisidentity to open a credit card at Toys R Us. 
On August 01, 2017, the victim received a phone callfrom a Life Lock representative stating a suspect(s)
used the victim's identity and attempted to open anaccount. The suspect was unsuccessful in opening a 

Toys R Us credit card. At this time no financial losshas been reported. 

Friday, August 4 At about 11:30 a.m., two unknown 
suspect(s) stole a weed whacker, hedge trimmer anda Sponge Bob backpack (filled with water bottles)
from the unsecured bed of a gardening truck, parkedin the 600 block of W. Montecito Ave. The total loss 
value was $1,430.00 Case to Detectives 

Sunday, August 6 Officers were dispatched at about

6:17 p.m. to the 100 block of Merrill Ave. for a reportof a missing person. The missing person, a whitemale, 6’9”, wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt,
khaki shorts and tennis shoes, was last seen in the 
100 block of E. Laurel at approximately 10:00 a.m. If 
you have seen this person, please contact the SMPD@ 626/355-1414. 
NOTE: As previously noted, we have had three morecases of motorists stopped for traffic violations thatduring the investigation were also found to be drivingwith an expired or suspended driver’s license. Theywere cited and their vehicles were impounded. Be 
aware of the status of your driver’s license. 

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