Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, April 8, 2023

13

OPINION

Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 8, 2023 

STUART TOLCHIN

RICH JOHNSON 

NOW THAT’S RICH

MOUNTAIN 
VIEWS

NEWS

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR

Dean Lee 

PRODUCTION

SALES

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

626-818-2698

WEBMASTER

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION

Peter Lamendola

CONTRIBUTORS

Stuart Tolchin 

Audrey Swanson

Meghan Malooley

Mary Lou Caldwell

Kevin McGuire

Chris Leclerc

Dinah Chong Watkins

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Rich Johnson

Lori Ann Harris

Rev. James Snyder

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Jeff Brown

Marc Garlett

Keely Toten

Dan Golden

Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

Joan Schmidt

LaQuetta Shamblee

PUT THE LIGHTS ON


REMEMERING SPECIAL

MOMENTS

SHOWER THOUGHTS

 In a way all the moments are special. On 
Monday night my son, my friend John, and 
I together went to a restaurant to watch the 
final game of what we call March Madness. 
Over the past forty years the three of us have 
watched many games together and my son and 
John chatted about moments that they remember. 
I am a person for whom the past is always 
alive and this year I was very sad to realize that there is so much I 
have forgotten. Every day I manage to lose something but the loss 
I regret most is the increasing amount of my lost memory. I am so 
aware that frequently the moments that are so special for me today 
will so often be lost by tomorrow and forever.

 Last night, which was Wednesday, my wife and I were driving 
home after having met my son for dinner and my wife noticed the 
unique moon in the Eastern early night blue sky. The moon was full 
and pink and round yes, and very special. My wife turned the corner 
to get a clear view of the sky. She turned the corner, stopped the car, 
parked, and went out into the cold happily using her IPhone taking 
pictures of the sky. I see her looking beautiful and happy much like a 
child reacting to a rainbow. What a wonderful world is all around us 
and yet it is so easy to forget.

 Frankly I am sick of having so much of my world being dominated 
and obscured by Donald Trump. On Monday or Tuesday, I 
can’t remember which, my wife told me about one of the TV Stations 
that presented 6 separate boxes displaying all the news stations simultaneously. 
One could flip from one box to another and see and 
hear what was being presented. I took that opportunity and was absolutely 
sickened to realize that every single station was busy talking 
about Donald Trump and his indictment. I felt immediately that this 
indictment was just part of a long continuing story of Trump and his 
travails preventing focusing on the multitude of problems facing the 
world today,

 As I turned away from that station called News Mix, if you 
are interested, I thought of that wonderful moment soon after Joe 
Biden became President. There on the television was his new White 
House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki. She was clearly intelligent, informed, 
seemingly truthful and sincere. What a moment for me this 
was. No more Trump, no more lies, no more unnecessary conflict. 
The world will be saved!

 Well that moment was just over two years ago and as we all 
know Donald Trump has not disappeared. As far as I can tell he receives 
more attention than anyone else in my lifetime. Jen Psaki has 
turned into just another news television news analyst talking about 
Donald Trump. I want to remember the joy I felt when I saw her for 
the first time in the same way I want to remember and retain the joy 
I felt yesterday as I watched my wife delighted by the moon. I want to 
remember the joyful moments I had with my son and John watching 
sporting events over the years.

 Right now, two short day, later I can barely remember who 
won the March Madness final on Monday night. I mourn the loss of 
my short-term memory and the loss of so many life affirming long 
term memories. If there is anything important to remember it is the 
memories of the past joys we retain and the ability to note and remember 
the present joys that occur before us every day even though 
we may well forget them by tomorrow. (I wish we could all forget that 
Trump ever happened.)

Stumbled across a concept called “shower thoughts”. What is 
a “shower thought” you ask? “A sudden idea or epiphany occurring 
to someone during an unconnected activity like taking 
a shower.”

Yay! A new hotbed of mindless trivia…right up my alley…
or is it right down my alley? Perfect timing for amazing and 
delighting friends, strangers and family.

Shower thoughts:

“If you’re waiting for the waiter, aren’t you the waiter?”

“Subaru said backwards is ‘you are a bus’.”

“The internet nearly killed postal service with email, then saved it with online 
delivery.”

“Do you ever wonder what your dog named you?”

“What was the first guy to milk a cow trying to do?

“Prince Charles waited 73 years for a promotion.”

“Its not your money, its just your turn to play with it.”

”If a fly loses its wings, is it now called a walk?”

“In Roman numerals L is larger than XL.”

“If money doesn’t buy happiness, you’re probably not spending it right.”

“First you learn to read, then you read to learn.”

“If we call it tuna-fish, why don’t we call it chicken-bird?”

“Ever wonder what underwater smells like?”

“The only part of your reflection you can lick is your tongue.”

“When you use a straw you are actually drinking from the bottom.”

“There are two E’s in bee, but they’re both silent.”

“Why do self-driving cars have windshield wipers?”

“No one has ever been in a fully empty room.”

“If Elvis Presley was so popular, why don’t we meet people named Elvis?”

“We’re lucky blinking doesn’t make noise.”

“Is firefly the opposite of waterfall?”

“Aren’t pregnant women the only bodybuilders?”

“If you give someone food, you’re feeding them. When you give them water, are you 
watering them?

“One day you’ll be someone’s ancestor.”

“Isn’t the object of golf to play the least amount of golf?”

“If you drop soap on the floor, is the floor clean, or is the soap dirty?”

“Isn’t your first birthday technically your second birthday?”

“When you clean a vacuum cleaner, are you the vacuum cleaner?”

“Doesn’t being down for something and being up for something mean the same 
thing?”

“When my dog brings me the same toy, is it his favorite toy or does he think it’s my 
favorite toy?”

“Isn’t a fire truck actually a water truck?”

“Does a straw have one hole, or two?”

“Isn’t the youngest picture of you the oldest picture of you?”

Have a wonderful week my friends. 

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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