The Slice: A proud day for some Ma and Pa

A note from my friend Judy McKeehan made me think of spring break.

“As I read the police reports in the Cheney Free Press last week, I told Mike I was really glad that we never had to find out in the paper that any of our kids were public urinaters.”

“The most beguiling Scottish accents: Keith Humphrey nominated Christina Sceva. “I could listen to her talk for hours,” he wrote.

Diana Buster and others wrote in about the Rev. Ian Robertson at Spokane Valley Nazarene Church.

And Bonnie Meyer nominated her friend Rosa Pearl of Hayden Lake. “It is especially amazing because she is 100 percent Italian, but was raised in Scotland where her family had a fish and chips shop.”

“Naming pets after Jane Austen characters: “Yes, Mr. Darcy is an excellent name for a cat,” wrote Deborah J. Allen of Newport. “We have one.”

Here’s the story.

“Three Christmases ago, one of my neighbors had moved and abandoned their cat. I had cruised by the house trying to find him with little success. Then, on Christmas Eve, which was exceptionally frigid, I thought I’d try one more time.

“Armed with a pet carrier and a can of food, I drove by to find him hunkered on the porch of his former home. He walked right into the carrier and I deposited him in our heated garage while we were at church.

“He was a charmer. Cold and starving though he was, he couldn’t decide if he wanted to eat or be petted.

“Our vet said that he was an old guy, between 12 and 16. I had been calling him Sweetpea, but my son insisted that insulted the dignity of such an elderly gentleman. So he became Mr. Darcy.

“I am happy to report that Mr. Darcy is enjoying a cushy retirement at my son’s home — plenty of food, soft lounging places and no requirements.

“However, a new puppy has recently been added to the household. Oh well, life isn’t perfect for any of us.”

I also heard from Spokane’s Mary Ronan Drew on this subject.

“We have a cat named Miss Georgiana Darcy, after Mr. Darcy’s beloved sister,” she wrote. “Our other cat is Miss Emma Woodhouse.”

“Slice answers: “I think Spokane would look beautiful with landscaping that did not require watering,” wrote Margot Fitzgerald.

“They’d have to rename Spokane ‘Phoenix II’ or ‘Tucson Too’ or maybe ‘Lake Havasu Revisited,’ ” wrote Jan Jesberger.

“Today’s Slice question: How much of the bad driving one encounters in Spokane can be attributed to people being behind the wheel of stolen cars (and thus being unfamiliar with the controls, etc.)?