Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, July 27, 2019

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JUST FOR YOU!

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 27, 2019 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side by Deanne Davis


“Loud is the summer’s busy song. The smallest breeze can find 
a tongue, while insects of each tiny size grow teasing with their 
melodies, till noon burns with its blistering breath around, and 
day lies still as death.” John Clare

I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description of August, which is 
coming right up. All we can do is move slowly, remember that 
only “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun,” 
(Noel Coward); clip the burned leaves off our plants; water 
sparingly early in the morning and keep praying for that El Nino 
thing to show up this winter. Just celebrated granddaughter, 
Emily’s, 9th birthday and her mommy’s birthday is coming up 
July 30th. It’s monsoon season in Arizona now and the skies look 
threatening early in the morning and it’s windy windy windy. 

“Hello August...can time slow down, please?”

Remember when school started after Labor Day and the month 
of August was the last hurrah of summer? Forget that! School 
starts for Jessie and Emily – 6th and 4th grade respectively – on 
August 7th! Emily’s birthday presents featured a lot of school 
clothes and a trip to see the new Lion King live action movie, 
which was gorgeous to see, but everybody still loves the 1994 
animated version best. Here she is with her new artist’s portfolio 
as she is quite a talented artist.

“August in sub-Saharan Los Angeles is one of the great and awful 
tests of one’s endurance, sanity and stamina.” Henry Rollins 

I made pancakes for everybody for breakfast this morning. One 
of my best ever $19.99 purchases from Kohl’s a few years ago was 
the Presto griddle. This thing is fantastic, heats up instantly and 
you can’t mess up your pancakes. Honest! Here’s my recipe as 
I’m not a fan of mixes:

 2 cups sifted all purpose flour

 3 tsp. double-acting baking powder

 1 tsp. salt

 3 Tb. sugar

 2 eggs

 1-3/4 cup milk

 3 Tb. melted butter

Blend the eggs and milk in your electric mixer, then add the dry 
ingredients which have been mixed together in a small bowl. 
Add in the melted butter. Be sure your griddle is hot then make 
pancakes in whatever size you like, from dollar to plate size. You 
can’t go wrong with this recipe. Enjoy!

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities disguised 
as impossible situations. And they usually arrive in August!” 
Charles Swindoll

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is 
blowing, the birds are singing and the lawnmower is broken.” 
James Dent

It’s not too late to put in a tomato plant! Be good to yourself and 
drink a lot of water. Take heart: Fall is on the way!

May you have a perfect summer day every single day this week.

“Sunrises & Sunflowers Speak Hope” is here! 

Look for it on my book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 

Star of Wonder the CD is now on TuneCore! Take a look!

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

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

 “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”

is also available on my book page and the apple cake recipe is 
in there!


INTERESTING PARTIES

No, I haven’t been to any interesting parties lately. 
Sorry if the title misled you. But when I was driving 
through Alta Dena the other day, I passed a market 
with items hanging outside, and was amused to see a 
piñata of a Patron Silver tequila bottle.

That’s a new one! A new one for me, anyway. When 
I think of piñatas, I usually imagine the traditional 
type --colorful morning stars with streamers. Or 
those character-themed ones, like Batman, Winnie 
the Pooh, or the Little Mermaid. Patron, on the other 
hand, was a first.

Another common assumption regarding piñatas is that they’re for kids. 
This got me wondering exactly what kind of party this Patron piñata was 
for. If it’s for a kids’ party, how does Patron fit in? That’s kind of like having 
Johnny Walker or Maker’s Mark party favor dispensers. A short skip and 
a hop from promoting other consumable vices, such as Marlboroughs or 
Camels cigarettes. Pick your poison, I guess.

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Perhaps this thing wasn’t for 
a kids’ party at all. For all I know it could’ve been for adults. That line of 
reasoning begs the question, are grown-ups really going to blindfold each 
other and come out swinging at a piñata? I suppose anything’s possible, and 
the more I thought about this, the more fun it sounded.

I mean, haven’t we all had times when it would feel so good to crack something open with a bat? Nothing violent, of course. 
Unless you’re talking about violence from the piñata’s point of view. It’s like that song “Something’s Gotta’ Give.” “When an irresistible 
force meets an old immovable object...” Surely those songwriters had Patron piñatas in mind.

If this was a piñata for adults, what favors would go inside? Other than the pure thrill of connecting with something while blindly 
swinging a bat, how could you motivate adults to break this thing open? Little bottles of Patron is an obvious choice, but that might 
not be the best option, since whacking them hard enough could result in tequila-soaked guests. 

I don’t know. Maybe those little bottles are plastic, anyway. However, filling something that big with pocket-sized bottles of booze 
would be expensive. (This was a regular, full-size piñata.) I suppose you could fill it with a cheaper tequila, but you wouldn’t want to 
risk guests mutinying in disappointment if that were the case. 

Setting the idea of little Patron bottles aside for the moment, most adults are easy. They’d go for chocolate or similar edibles. But 
do people put chocolate in piñatas? Doesn’t it melt? I’m writing this on a three digit degree day, that’s why I ask. AC would help, but 
piñatas aren’t for indoors. Unless perhaps you have a mansion. In which case money is no object, and you could fill the thing with 
Dom Perignon for that matter.

At the end of the day, I continued past this market with its intriguing Patron Silver piñata, and have not had the opportunity to 
drive back again since. I have no idea what the inspiration behind this piñata creation was, nor do I have any notions about who 
bought it. But there’s one thing I know --the party it was used for must’ve sure been interesting!

*Check out my novel “A Year at Apex” in paperback and ebook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble! Apex has it all --humor, romance, 
the human condition, and public education. Perfect for you and the educator in your life!

KATIE Tse....This and That


SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER

July 14 to July 21, 2019 
During this period the Sierra Madre Police Department responded to 276 calls for service. 

Physical Altercation

On Tuesday, 7/16/19 at 8:30PM, officers responded to the 300 block of W. Sierra Madre Bl. for a report of battery. The victim stated 
that he was struck in the face by a co-worker. This is an ongoing investigation 

Suspicious vehicle

Officers on patrol in the area of Carter Ave. and Baldwin Ave. on Thursday, 7/18/19 at 3:31AM, observed a vehicle 
parked on a dirt path occupied by two people and with its trunk open. Following the field interview, the driver 
was arrested for possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, then taken to the Pasadena Police jail for booking. 
Case referred to DA’s office.


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