From A Bird's Eye View

Posted in travel

A Most Unusual and Brilliant Desert Denizen

February 24, 2025By Sparrow/WatsonComments:6 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

It’s no secret that I’ve spent a good deal of the first quarter of every year since 1992 in the southern California desert, Palm Desert to be exact. In fact, as you’re reading this, I’m in the desert this week. And, of course, I’m always looking for something new and different to write about. We all know that stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Bob Hope, Dinah Shore, Marilyn Monroe and many others spent lots of time in the desert, but I had no idea that the greatest scientist of all time, Albert Einstein was also a ‘desert rat’.

In 1933 Einstein and his second wife, Elsa came to Palm Springs as he was fleeing from Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler. They stayed briefly at the ‘Willows’, which hosted many Hollywood and Wall Street stars; it was the elegant home of attorney and “Hitler’s Bitterest Foe”, Samual Untermeyer. At the time, LA Magazine said, “Staying at the Willows is like getting the keys to a well–off friend’s country estate.” The Willows has entertained such guests as Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Joseph P. Kennedy, Marion Davies, Shirley Temple, and many more. After a short stay, the Einsteins were lured away from the Willows by Warren Pinney, the big boss at the neighboring El Mirador Hotel, which was just down the street and had entertained a few Hollywood types of its own, like Paulette Goddard, soon to be the third wife of Charlie Chaplin, and a young B-movie actress who would go on to captivate the television world decades later in a program called “I Love Lucy” – Lucille Ball. The hotel also played a role as a hospital during World War II.

And while we’re mixing Hollywood stars and Einstein, you may not be familiar with a quote from Marilyn Monroe about him. She said, “We could have a baby together. He would come out beautiful like me and smart like you,” to which Einstein replied, and I paraphrase, “What if he came out with my beauty and your intelligence?” Which sounds like a self-deprecating statement about his not-so-handsome looks, as well as a dig at Marilyn being a dumb blonde. However, the joke was on him, Monroe’s IQ was measured at 165, about 5 points higher than Einsteins’!!! The photo at the right is probably a phony, as there is no evidence that Einstein and Monroe ever met, despite rumors of an affair, although he might have been smart enough to hide such a thing.

Tony Burke, ‘Realtor to the Stars’ and publicist for the El Mirador Hotel and Palm Springs in general, made sure the Einsteins had a wonderful time AND that most of the world heard about it. Who knew that when in the desert, Einstein loved sunbathing, so when sitting on his veranda at the Willows and the El Mirador, he would often take off his shirt (unheard of at that time) – in fact, sometimes he would even take off his pants! It seems clear he had a secret desire to be in ‘show’ business.

As a matter of fact, Einstein’s personal life fit right in with the Hollywood set in the desert, as he was, by all accounts, a ‘ladies’ man’ and he found his first wife, Mileva Marić, as a student of his and an accomplished physicist and mathematician in her own right, with whom he had a child before they were married. He married his second wife, Elsa, with whom he had about a seven-year affair, three months after his divorce from Mileva. Oh yeah, and Elsa was his first cousin!

Both hotels are still in business, you can get a room at the El Mirador Hotel for as little as $200 a night. ‘The Willows’ is now called ‘The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn’, and only has 17 rooms, which run between $500-$700 a night. Today you can stay in the ‘Einstein Room’ at The Willows for about $650 a night – I’m guessing there’s a ‘smart’ TV in that room!

While in the desert this week, I will see if I can visit either or both of these historic hotels – although they may not let someone like me, not a star and definitely not a genius, on the property.

Posted in opinion

I CAN’T SEE!

February 17, 2025By Sparrow/WatsonComments:10 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

The other day I was struggling to read the fine print on a label in the grocery store. Don’t even get me started on why the print has to be so small – what are they hiding? I have often said that the most frustrating part of aging has been the steady deterioration of my vision. I had to wear reading glasses beginning at the age of 12 and it’s been a downhill journey ever since. Over the years I’ve made many attempts to improve my vision, including Lasik surgery in 1999. The surgery was a great success, resulting in 20/20 vision for distance but as I aged, I needed reading glasses for anything up close. Fast forward to 2023, when I complained to my ophthalmologist that my distance vision was deteriorating. And as is so often the case these days, he started with the dreaded, “Well, at your age…”. Turns out Lasik doesn’t last forever, and he suggested progressive lenses. My house is now littered with glasses: four sets of progressive, two single vision sets for computer and piano distances, and two sets of progressive sunglasses. And I still have drawers full of “cheaters” that I pull out when one of my prescription glasses are not within arm’s reach. I’m looking into cataract surgery later this year, in yet another attempt to see clearly. I’ve often wondered, as I’m reading that fine print at the grocery store, how did people survive before the invention of glasses. Turns out, hundreds of years ago people were equally frustrated by blurry vision and as is often the case, came up with some rather ingenious inventions.

There’s not much historical evidence explaining how our prehistoric ancestors fared in the absence of visual aids, so historians have used a combination of deduction and common sense to determine how, say, a sight-impaired individual would keep up with the pack in a group of hunter-gatherers. A person with imperfect vision could still be useful to a group simply because sharp eyesight (needed to read signs or Google Maps) wasn’t necessary in prehistoric times. And they didn’t have to deal with those pesky grocery store labels. As civilization progressed, those with visual impairments could even find their condition produced certain advantages. A myopic (nearsighted) person, for example, could find themselves steered toward a craftsman role for their ability to focus on detail.

Somewhere in the vicinity of Pisa, Italy, around 1286, an unknown craftsman fastened two glass lenses to a frame likely made of wood or bone to create the first eyeglasses. Thus, the modern notion of vision aids was invented. But there were incremental improvements for the vision-impaired even before that. Archaeological digs in the eastern Mediterranean area have uncovered the existence of plano-convex lenses (flat on one side and rounded on the other) made of glass and rock crystal that date back to the Bronze Age! While it’s unknown what these lenses were used for, some of them magnify objects between seven and nine times, rendering them useful for work on items in close quarters. After that there came water stones, mirrors and even emeralds, which didn’t really improve vision but were thought to reduce glare. A major development in the area of visual tools came with the invention of reading stones. The concept of using curved glass to magnify print was discussed at length by an Arab mathematician in 1021. Typically made from quartz, rock crystal, and especially beryl, reading stones were fashioned in a plano-convex shape, with the flat side against the page of a book and the rounded top providing a clear view of the lettering below. Initially used to assist the elderly with faltering vision, the stones became popular among younger readers as well, especially as beryl was said to possess magic and healing powers.

One surviving example of reading stones are the 11th- to 12th-century Visby lenses discovered in Gotland, Sweden, in 1999. Along with providing excellent magnification of tiny text, many of these quartz lenses are mounted in silver, suggesting a decorative purpose as well. It’s unknown if the Visby lenses were the work of a local professional or somehow made their way from Muslim regions where other reading stones first appeared. Regardless, the quality of the images generated by these artifacts, and the craftsmanship that went into their creation, underscores how people were seeking help for their vision woes long before LensCrafters went into business.

Somehow, it’s comforting to know that people struggled with vision issues from time immemorial. One can only imagine the cave people saying, “Darn it, Harriet, I can’t see the damn hieroglyphics on that wall anymore!”

Posted in opinion

A Story, the Dollars, and the Numbers of a Not-So-Super Super Bowl

February 10, 2025By Sparrow/WatsonComments:12 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

If you thought Sunday’s rather boring game was about football, you’ve got another think coming. The game should be called Super Buck instead of Super Bowl. Super Bore might be a better name for Sunday’s game. The ads and who’s in the stands and maybe the halftime show were more entertaining than the game. So lets talk about the money, who’s watching, and then a story about a long-forgotten Super Bowl hero.

Show Me the Money

The lowest Super Bowl ticket was priced at $4,750 and the most expensive at $17,842, NOT INCLUDING FEES!
The last ten 30 second ads average $7m sold by Fox, and reached a record $8,000,000.
With last year’s Super Bowl going into overtime, it was estimated that CBS earned $695 million in ad revenue for that one game!
Tom Brady, who never fails to mention that he played in 10 Super Bowls, won 7, and this year appeared in his first as an announcer, has a 10-year contract worth $375 million! He’s way overpaid, in my opinion.
By hosting the Super Bowl, New Orleans received an economic boost of over $500 million
Each winning team member will take home $164,000, the losers will have to get by for the day on $89,000
According to SB Nation, the league finally gave up its tax-exempt status in 2015, after over 70 years of being on the books as a “nonprofit.” Really??!!!

Why do people watch the game?

43% say the game is the most important part
19% say the halftime show is most important
17% say the TV ads are most important

The Taylor Swift Effect

Last year, 58.8 million women watched Super Bowl LVIII, which was a record high. This was 47.5% of the total audience, also a record high. It’s informally called ‘The Taylor Swift Effect’.

OK, enough of the numbers, the next story is, in my opinion, one of the most memorable of all Super Bowl stories, and it happened in the very first Super Bowl.

The first Super Bowl was in 1967 between the Green Bay Packers and, who else, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the Los Angeles Coliseum. The night before the game, two Packer players known to have a cocktail or two, Paul Hornung and Max McGee, broke curfew and went ‘out on the town’ with two flight attendants. Hornung had a pinched nerve in his neck and knew he would not play in tomorrow’s game. McGee, a veteran player in the last season of his career, was a backup receiver who had only caught four balls all season and would retire after the game. Max rolled in on the morning of the Super Bowl at 6:30 and ran into quarterback Bart Starr in the hotel hall, who remarked about Max being an early riser! Before the game, in which Max planned to sit on the bench and nurse his hangover, he told the starting receiver, Boyd Dowler, “You better not get hurt, because I’m in no shape to play.”

As fate would have it, Dowler got hurt early in the first quarter of the game, so Max McGee grabbed the nearest helmet, which happened to be a lineman’s helmet with a fairly large cage on it, and entered the game. He makes a one-handed catch for the Super Bowl’s first-ever touchdown and ends up making seven catches for 138 yards for two touchdowns. The Packers handily beat the Chiefs 35-10. Seems similar to this years’ game.

Hope you had as good a time as Max McGee did, both the night before the game and during the game!

Posted in Holiday observations • opinion

SEALED WITH A KISS

February 3, 2025By Sparrow/WatsonComments:4 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

For those of you who celebrate Valentine’s Day, consider this your public service announcement: You have 11 days to buy roses, obtain a significant piece of jewelry, or at the very least, pore over the Valentine’s Day cards at Walgreens and choose something appropriately mushy/sweet/funny. My favorite story about buying cards is the one about the couple who go into Walgreen’s, each selects a card they feel best expresses their sentiment, hands it to their spouse to read, and then puts it back on the rack and walks out of the store. Gets the message across and saves ten bucks!

Many people choose to sign Valentine’s Day cards, and all other forms of communication, with an “XO” near their signature. I recently read an article on the genesis of this habit that I thought was interesting, or at least appropriate for this holiday. The origins of “X” being associated with a kiss can be traced back to the Middle Ages. In an era when literacy rates were low and formal education was a rare privilege, people who couldn’t write would sign documents with an “X” instead of their name. When people signed with an “X,” it wasn’t merely a mark; it was a symbol that carried the weight of an oath. To validate their intentions and their “signature,” people were also known to kiss the “X”. How the letter “X” transitioned from a kiss in the name of sincerity to a kiss of romance or affection isn’t clear. Theories on its initial use range from a British naturalist to Winston Churchill. But the most likely explanation comes from Marcel Danesi, a professor of linguistics anthropology and author of The History of the Kiss! The Birth of Popular Culture. He wrote that as the Renaissance era saw an increase of secularism, and with the 18th-century rise of the concept of romantic love, the symbolic “X” gradually expanded beyond its initial utilitarian function to become a gesture of affection.

An easier explanation could simply be the shape of the letter — that it looks like a pair of puckered lips, assuming, of course, that the sender has not had an overabundance of filler. And as for the “O” that often accompanies the “X”, even less is known about its origins as a symbol for a hug. It’s been suggested that the letter simply looks like a pair of arms wrapped around someone else; however, as with “X,” there are other theories as well. Whatever their origins, I hope you have plenty of X’s and O’s coming your way this Valentine’s Day.

Before I close, I would be remiss in not mentioning the recent loss of one of our most dedicated and long-tenured subscribers, Pam Landon, who passed away unexpectedly last Monday. I met Pam in 1999 and despite many personal setbacks in recent years, she remained one of the most kind, funny and positive people I knew. Each week without fail she commented on Bob’s and my posts, usually with humor or a story about her own experiences. She especially loved being an armchair traveler with Bob. In her last comment to me on my post encouraging people to eat junk food she said, “I discretely nibbled on a chocolate chip cookie as I enjoyed this blog. Thanks, as always, for brightening my day.” Rest in peace, Pam. I know that you are brightening everyone’s day now and hopefully still nibbling on a cookie.

Posted in Holiday observations

What’s Coming for You in 2025

January 27, 2025By Sparrow/WatsonComments:2 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

Your stomach, your liver and the bathroom scale are telling you the holidays are finally over, and that you can now focus on those New Year’s resolutions. Not so fast – the Lunar New Year celebration starts on Wednesday! You’ve probably heard of the Lunar New Year, but not sure exactly what it is, other than maybe having something to do with the moon. Let me get you up to speed on this holiday celebrated in most Asian countries and communities. Traditionally, the Lunar New Year holiday season begins with the arrival of the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later with the first full moon. Yes, prepare yourself for a fortnight and a day of celebrating. There goes my ‘Dry January’ . . . OK, I was never doing a Dry January. Lunar New Year is a celebration that marks the beginning of the new year on the lunar calendar. It’s also known as the Spring Festival (although it’s not spring, even in China) or Chinese New Year. The Lunar New Year is celebrated in most Asian countries and communities except Japan. In Vietnam, it is called Tet, which translates into ‘Festival’.

You may have already heard that 2025 is the Year of the Snake, not just a snake, but a Wood-Snake. On the surface, the year of the snake doesn’t sound too promising, but it can be. The Snake symbolizes wisdom, good luck, prosperity, fertility, longevity, intuition and transformation while offering personal growth and change opportunities. It’s also a good year for love and marriage but mediocre for health – avoid certain places (like hospitals, I guess) Hey, it can’t all be good!

Unlike zodiac signs that we’re familiar with that change approximately every 30 days during the course of a year, the Snake is the Chinese zodiac sign for everyone born this year and every year going back at 12-year intervals, like 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, 1941, 1939, 1927 – I think that covers everyone except those readers who are 102+. The other Chinese zodiac animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. You’ll have to look up your birth year to determine the animal that you are and just what to expect this year. Snakes, known for their wisdom and intuition, find luck with the colors black, red, and yellow. These colors enhance their natural insight and charm. White and brown can bring bad luck, dulling their usually sharp instincts. In the NFL Super Bowl race, the Washington Commanders’ colors are burgundy and gold, which is a lot like red and yellow . . . we’ll see.

The Chinese zodiac signs expected to experience excellent fortune this year include Ox, Dragon, Snake, Rat, and Rooster – are you one of those? These lucky Chinese zodiac signs can expect job advancements, financial gains, and personal growth.

Oh yes, there’s more. Twenty-twenty-five is a year for listening to each other’s needs and making the best endeavor to combine in a happy compromise, for to over assert your authority is to jeopardize your own stability. A year of deception and uncertainty may not sound all that fun — but it does bring some positives, too. According to Astrology, some Zodiac signs have the opportunity to make huge financial gains in 2025 & these Zodiac signs are: TARUS, SCORPIO, CAPRICORN, PISCES, AQUARIUS & LEO. According to experts, Sagittarius is the happiest sign of the zodiac, because it is ruled by the planet of happiness – Jupiter. According to those who know this stuff, 2025 will be another year of massive change. AI, Robotics, space travel, and healthcare breakthroughs suggest that the possibilities of this new year are limitless.

Well, that’s it for now, I’ve got to set up my tarot card table. I’d wish you all good luck this year, but I already know that you’re all going to make it one of your best years ever! Party on!

Posted in opinion

HOME

January 20, 2025By Sparrow/WatsonComments:4 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

On a summer day in July 1998, my husband and I stood on a dirt lot imagining our dream home -a home where we could live out the rest of our days. After a long construction period we were finally able to move into our home in the spring of 2000 and from the jump Alan was in love with the house. To him it represented more than lumber and sheetrock – it symbolized the culmination of our hard work. He always insisted he would only leave it feet first, and in fact, that is what happened. On the other hand, I had a much more practical relationship with the house. Twice I talked him into selling it, although both times we took it off the market shortly after listing it. I resented the time and maintenance that the house required, not to mention the pool that goes unused for years yet requires weekly visits by the pool company. But in the past eighteen months, as I have learned to live in the house by myself, I have come to appreciate it more. I have actually found myself talking to the house. Well, actually, it’s been more like begging, as in, “Please don’t let your pipes burst”, or “The A/C just has to keep going all summer!”. I realize now that the house has provided me a place of refuge, a source of pride and quite literally has kept my feet warm at night. I believe a home is much like marriage – it provides a sense of comfort, security and solace that you might not fully appreciate until it’s gone.

Owning a home certainly brings with it some responsibilities, but what you get in return is unmeasurable. Which brings me to the first reason for the blog today: the horrendous wildfires in Los Angeles. As of this writing, more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed, most of them single-family homes. The sheer devastation of such a wide swath of homes is hard to comprehend, and harder still to imagine that each of those homes represents a heart-broken family. Most possessions can be replaced, but the memories and family heirlooms lost in the fires can’t be filled by anything one can find at Target. Those homeowners now face the daunting prospect of a years-long rebuilding process, and it seems that many may not want to rebuild at all. One major real estate company has estimated that as many as 70% of the homeowners will move rather than put their families through the long process of reconstruction. I understand that. Even without the red tape that Los Angeles is known for, the building process is stressful. The conventional wisdom is that you get a bid from the builder and then plan on twice as much money and three times as much time to complete the project. In the meantime, the homes that provided shelter and comfort are gone and the sense of loss has to be enormous.

The second thought I had while watching the fires and evacuations was: what would I grab if I only had minutes to leave my house? I think I know what’s important, but I’ve heard numerous people these past two weeks lament that in their panic they grabbed useless things and forgot some essentials. When we lived in California, I had a “go box” that contained all our important papers, but I gave that up when we moved to Arizona. I’ve been reminded that regardless of where we live, we need to be prepared. So, I began searching for suggestions of how to plan for an evacuation and have compiled the following list of “Evacuation Essentials” from my readings. I hope you find these suggestions helpful:

People and Pets: make sure to gather everyone together in one spot. You don’t want any “Home Alone” situations in an emergency. If there is time, each person should pack a small suitcase with a change of clothes and toiletries. Pets should be crated, if possible, and their food, bowls, leashes and medications packed up with them.
Paperwork: These days, with so many of our documents online, we don’t have to worry as much about putting so many papers together in our “go bag”. Just make sure that you have online access to your bank, utilities and insurance companies. I created an account with my homeowner’s and car insurance carrier just so I can access my agent’s phone number and my policy documents at any time. What you might consider putting in the bag are passports, Social Security cards, birth certificates, and any other document that would be needed if you have to prove your identity.
Prescriptions: Medical supplies, including prescription and nonprescription medication, eyeglasses or contact lenses, and vitamins, should also be included in your “go bag”. A great idea I read was to have your doctor write out a prescription for any medication you take on an ongoing basis and then make a copy of it to keep in the “go bag”.
Personal Items: Thinking ahead of time about which mementos hold the most value can be helpful in an emergency evacuation situation. While you probably won’t be able to take everything, knowing which irreplaceable items matter the most can be helpful. Also, taking a video of your home, including what is contained in closets and cupboards, is valuable in the event you need to substantiate your insurance claim.
Photos – I read about a fair number of people who left their wedding and baby albums behind when they evacuated. You may choose to put photos that are irreplaceable in your “go bag”. Or you can take the time to scan them and upload them to the cloud. When I wrote my family history several years ago I did just that, so those photos are safely stored. But I’ve realized that between the “old” photos and the advent of the smart phone cloud storage, I still have hundreds of photos that need to be scanned. I guess I’ll add that task to my summer “to do” list.
Phones and Personal Computers: Of course, phones, computers, and chargers are critical as these might be the only way to get updates on your situation and provide a link to the outside world. Your personal devices are also great resources for storing copies of the previously mentioned documents, such as your passport and medical records.
Plastic: Last but certainly not least, take all of your banking and credit cards with you during the evacuation. Some cash can also prove helpful, as it might be the only payment method available if power goes out or ATMs are unavailable.

It’s a lot to think about, but a bit of preplanning could come in very helpful. I’ve certainly realized that I’m not as prepared as I should be. Now that I know what to do, I just need to do it. Perhaps I’ll look up “How to Motivate Yourself into Making a “Go Bag”. In the meantime, I will continue to appreciate the gift that is my house, and I will pray that the thousands of people now standing on blackened ground will soon find a new sense of home.

Posted in Historical • travel

Hollywood, The Mob and Ghosts at Lake Arrowhead

January 13, 2025By Sparrow/WatsonComments:10 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

Yes, they’re all part of a most fascinating history of this pristine alpine lake that I had the good fortune of hearing about from an interesting character and owner of the Tudor House and Bracken Fern Manor, John Connor; more about him later.

Notorious mobster, ‘Bugsy’ Siegal got the Chicago Mob to fund the Atkins Brothers building of a resort in the mountains – Bracken Fern Manor, an alpine inn in the San Bernardino mountains just above Lake Arrowhead, which opened as ‘Club Arrowhead in the Pines’ in 1929. It catered to the rich and famous, including many film stars. Back in the day, many from Hollywood came to Arrowhead as Bracken Fern Manor offered gambling, illegal liquor, as this was during Prohibition, and ‘ladies of the evening’. The brothel continued operation through World War II. An interesting side note is that when authorities realized that many of the mafia men spoke Italian, they offered them a ‘get out of jail free card’ if they would use their language skills to spy on the Italians, who were part of the Axis powers.

Gambling continued as a profitable business with a move across the street to the ‘speakeasy’/casino, called the Tudor House and continued operations until 1955. This is the building where our group watched the football games on a big screen on New Years Day and were served drinks, pizza and desserts by John Connor and Bridger Zadina, more about him later too. The Bracken Fern Manor was turned into a 10-bedroom hotel which was said to be haunted by the ghosts of a ten-year-old boy, who was struck by a car and a prostitute who jumped from an upper-story window. Enough hotel guests had paranormal experiences that both OC Ghosts & Legends and Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures have broadcast from the hotel. Owner, John Connor gave us a tour through, what is today, the hotel, starting in the wine cellar and working our way up to the second floor where there was a secret window where one could ‘peek’ into the room and watch the goings on. The rooms were small and shared a Jack & Jill bathroom. We won’t be checking in anytime soon!

While walking back to the Tudor House from the Backen Fern Manor, (It is said there were secret tunnels connecting the two buildings to accommodate brothel customers stealthily moving between them), John showed us where the first power lines that brought electricity to Lake Arrowhead from San Bernardino were put up using live Ponderosa pine trees as telephone poles. Look closely at the photo to see the ‘make-shift ladder’ still attached to the tree. The grounds also include a wedding venue and an amphitheater seating four hundred for summer concerts.

OK, what about John Connor and Bridger Zadina?

John is an 80-year-old energetic man who was born on a farm in Maryland and worked on it until he was 17, then decided that he didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do, but he knew it wasn’t working on a farm. As it turned out, he was quite brilliant and went to Drexel Institute of Technology and earned a degree in particle physics, where he unknowingly worked on a neutron bomb for the Department of Defense. He attended graduate school at Duke University, was recruited by the US Air Force to develop weapon systems during the Vietnam War (he gets pretty emotional talking about this), worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, worked on some of our very first computers, helped with the construction of the Alaskan Pipeline, was on Ronald Reagan’s transition team, started his own tax consulting firm, moved to Montana to retire and do some ranching, then moved to Arrowhead to open the Tudor House and Bracken Fern Manor, making it a theater, restaurant and hotel. During pauses in the action of the football game we were watching, he would sit down at the piano and play a few show tunes – a true Renaissance man and a real character.

Wishing you a happy new year from the Lake Arrowhead Hotel

Bridger Zadina is a 30-year-old, who was very unassuming and always had a smile on his face. He mentioned that he helped put on and act in some of the local theater shows that are done at the Tudor House theater. Other than just being a nice guy, he just smiled and made sure we had plenty of food and beverages. What we found out later is that he was born in Wisconsin and came to California to be an actor and model. He’s had TV roles in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Bosch and Better Things; he also starred in the 2014 movie Sins of Our Youth.

An alpine lake, beautiful mountains, memorable characters, and a fascinating history made this a most memorable start to the new year.

PS: The last time I was at Lake Arrowhead was about 30 years ago and it was dead, with vacant buildings and empty streets. No longer – the place was happening; stores opened and lots of people.

Posted in opinion

WITHER OUR JUNK FOOD?

January 6, 2025By Sparrow/WatsonComments:2 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Here we are in a new year, which means we are all on a diet and exercise plan again. At least until this Friday. The second Friday of the year is known as “quitters’ day”, a day in which all healthy new year’s resolutions fly out the window. And little wonder. In large swaths of the country the weather is wet and/or freezing, which makes long walks impossible. Going to the gym this time of year risks exposure to every known respiratory illness known to man. If, as my brother suggested last week, we reorganized our holidays and made New Year’s Day in July, this wouldn’t be a problem. I’m guessing we could postpone “quitters’ day” until at least September, when football season starts. Which brings me to the second reason resolutions go out the window this week: it coincides with prime football watching. Sure, we could indulge in carrot sticks and celery while watching a game, but I think it’s almost a law to eat pizza, wings and potato chips, lest you risk your team not making it to the Super Bowl.

If you are one of the millions of people who are taking one of the new GLP-1 weight loss drugs (Wegovy, Ozempic, et al) to boost your new year’s weight loss goal, you are actually having a detrimental effect on the economy. Last week the Cornell SC Johnson school of business released their latest research on the nation’s eating habits. As a result of these drugs households with at least one GLP-1 user reduce grocery spending by approximately 6% within six months of adoption, with higher-income households reducing spending by nearly 9%. These reductions are driven by significantly larger decreases in purchases of calorie-dense, processed items, including a 11% decline in savory snacks. In contrast, they observed directional increases in nutrient-dense purchases, such as yogurt and fresh produce. They also examined eating habits at fast-food chains and coffee shops and found reductions at breakfast and especially during dinner times. They concluded that their findings highlight the potential for GLP-1 medications to significantly reshape consumer food demand, a trend with increasingly important implications for the food industry.

Okay, people, can we all see where this is going? Clearly these GLP-1 drugs are a great treatment for people who are obese and/or diabetic. But I know some people who are only a touch overweight and are taking them so they can lose the 15 pounds that have been sitting on their hips since the 80’s. If everyone who is just slightly overweight starts taking drugs and eschewing junk food, pretty soon we’ll live in a world without hot wings, Big Macs, or cookies! And then where would we be? Do your part and buy a bag of Oreos this week and enjoy a good football game.

Of course I have my tongue in cheek with this, and I thoroughly subscribe to healthy eating and exercise, but beware of unintended consequences. Who wants to live in a world where we can’t buy cake at the grocery store?

Posted in Holiday observations

We Wish You a Merry Twixmas

December 30, 2024By Sparrow/WatsonComments:4 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

Yes, here we are again at “Twixmas”, the week between Christmas and New Years, when I always find myself between “Mi Tu Phat” and “Yes, I’ll have another helping”. I’m not sure who was in charge of setting up our holidays, but they should be fired! The basic issue is that we’ve bundled three of our major holidays, where eating and drinking takes center stage, in the last five weeks of the year. So, let’s see if we can reasonably move some of those special holidays around so it allows for proper celebration for each, without putting an undue strain on the stomach and liver.

Let’s start with Thanksgiving, it is supposed to be a celebration of harvest in the fall, so let’s move it from the end of fall to the beginning of fall; after all, the first Thanksgiving was celebrated between September 21 and November 9 – so let’s move it back to the last Thursday in September. Yes, I know Labor Day is around that time, but we can just move Labor Day maybe to sometime in August, a month that currently has no legal holidays. Few are even sure what we’re celebrating on Labor Day, as we certainly don’t ‘labor’ that day, unless you’re having a baby. How ever you celebrate it, it’s probably not a holiday where people stuff ourselves and are over-served, so let’s move it closer to Christmas.

OK, with that settled, let’s move on. Even though the exact date of Jesus’ birth is unknown, I think I’d get a lot of push back if I suggested moving Christmas from its’ December 25^th date. Although, as I look at the host of holidays in December – Immaculate Conception Day, Bodhi Day (Buddhist), Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Day (Patron Saint of Mexico), Hanukkah, it seems like everyone was trying to squeeze in a holiday before the end of the year, maybe it’s a year-end accounting thing. But OK, let’s leave December for our religious holidays and annual write-offs.

So, we really need to get New Years further away from all the December festivities. Most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar, but, for example a country like China, still keeps their holidays from their old calendar; so Chinese New Years starts on January 29 – the end of January is a big improvement over the last day of December. As we look elsewhere, we see that the Jews were only slightly smarter than the Christians, holiday-wise, as Hanukkah moves around from November to December. In Vietnam, Tet, the lunar new year, is celebrated this year for nine days at the end of January to the early part of February. That’s getting better, although nine days of partying could be detrimental to ones health. Islamic New Year is at the end of June! Well played Muslins!

I know moving the holidays is a low priority on anyone’s agenda, or most likely not on the agenda at all, but perhaps when Trump is buying Greenland, taking back the Panama Canal and making Canada the 51^st state, he could change a few holidays around to better suit our social life. I’m not holding my breath.

Suzanne and I wish you all a happy and healthy new year!

Posted in Holiday observations • opinion

CHRISTMAS GRACE

December 23, 2024By Sparrow/WatsonComments:11 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Once again, we come to the season of Christmas. The time when the world slows just a bit, when we stop to count our blessings and reflect on the passing of another year. We enter the season of Christmas grace. On Wednesday morning children all over the world will delight in the presents they receive; their belief in Santa reinforced and hopefully they also learn a bit about the reason for the holiday. Of course, as we age, our priorities shift. No Tiffany blue box or set of golf clubs can take the place of the present we appreciate most: the presence of the people we love. There is something almost magical in the gathering of close friends and family this time of year. The hugs always seem to last a bit longer and the laughter is just that much sweeter. And, of course, we miss the presence of those who are too far away to join in the festivities or who are no longer with us. I hope, like me, that if you are missing someone this year you have a reservoir of wonderful memories to draw upon.

I received a Christmas letter this year that contained an anonymous quote about Christmas grace that perfectly describes the uplifting spirit of the season. It says: “Christmas is an unexpected gift of grace; grace to conceive at this time and place, a new dream or plan, to overcome an old fear, to discover a new strength, to find a new friend, to live boldly and honor the changes that are happening, to care for my soul as well as those I love, to elevate the discourse around me with laughter and hope.”

My brothers and I are lucky that we have we had a wonderful upbringing, with a dad that was the epitome of Christmas grace. As is my custom each year, I am sharing his Christmas Ice Cream Fizz recipe to hopefully add a bit of cheer to your holiday celebration.

POP’S CHRISTMAS ICE CREAM FIZZ

Fill a blender 1/4 full of ice cubes

Add 6 jiggers of gin

Add 4 scoops of French Vanilla ice cream

Add 1 small bottle of soda water (the size you get in a 6-pack)

My brother Bob adds an egg, so the white adds some froth, brother Jack doesn’t add an egg. Personally, I’d add it just because you can then claim it’s a protein drink.

Just blend it well and – voila – you have a concoction sure to put a positive spin on everyone and everything!

Our mom served them in a wine glass with a dash of nutmeg. As we got older, we would conspire with Pop and ditch the wine glass for a chilled beer mug from the freezer. Saved having to go back for seconds…or thirds.

My brother and I wish all of our readers a very happy holiday season, blessed with all the presence you could ask for.