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The Slice: Winter solstice can be a howling-good time

If you hear some howling, you know winter is on its way.  StockXpert (StockXpert)

We have exactly a month to prepare for the winter solstice.

The Slice recommends sipping a flaming rum punch and practicing howling at the moon, wolf-style.

Try not to get shot.

Replacement mantra: There’s a simple explanation for why so many people around here get grouchy at this time of year.

It all stems from being deprived of the opportunity to use the Inland Northwest’s magic words: “Going to the lake.”

People here love saying that even more than actually doing it. And when they have to go a long time without working that expression into conversations, well, it leaves certain folks feeling a wee bit out of sorts.

Sure, skiers can try saying “Going to the mountain.” And couch potatoes are free to announce that they will be “Going to the den.”

But it’s not the same.

So what the Spokane area needs is a cold-weather equivalent of the expression “Going to the lake.”

It doesn’t have to describe a specific plan of action. After all, the original summertime saying can refer to anything from boating and swimming to camping and hiking. It has even been used as a euphemism for various forms of adult cavorting.

So the winter substitute just needs to be something people here can say over and over.

I’ll send an S-R coffee mug to the reader submitting the best idea. The runner-up will receive a coveted reporter’s notebook. Third place gets you an S-R grease-pen fridge-door bulletin board.

Shared nicknames basketball tournaments: EWU could host Boston College, Eastern Michigan and Morehead State.

WSU could invite BYU, Houston and Chicago State.

GU could host Butler, Fresno State and Georgia.

Today’s Slice question: If you were being protected by Secret Service agents, what would be their code name for you?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098; e-mail pault@spokesman.com. Before critiquing a story in the newspaper, it’s helpful to actually read it.

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