The Slice: It could be a bumpy ride through March

A bicycling friend said he expects March to come in like a pothole and go out like a bigger pothole.

Dissenting view: Deborah Hale, who moved here from New York 28 years ago, disagrees with the reader who suggested Spokane residents excel at holding doors for others. She finds that the opposite is true.

Re: those with no interest in college basketball sort of dreading this month: “They play basketball in March?” asked Sue Chapin.

Another reader wrote, “We have friends that are so addicted to GU basketball that you can’t plan ANYTHING with them if it conflicts with THE GAME.”

Binge feeding: Lots of readers told about seeing plenty of robins here this winter. And David Bowman and Keith Hegg, among others, noted that some of the birds appeared to be drunk on fermented mountain ash berries.

You can tell newcomers are here to stay when … : They have no interest in the pass reports, said Spokane Valley’s Ed Sawatzki.

“In Moses Lake, where I live, it’s when they start naming the individual tumble weeds in the herds that cross through our fields,” wrote Vaughn Blethen.

March will … : “Come in like a pit bull and go out like a marmot.” — Gary Polser

Stuffed animal names: “When my youngest daughter was a child, she had a fairly large green stuffed frog,” wrote Alan Eppinger.

The toy was named after a novelty song, “Walter Wart, The Freaky Frog.”

“Walter was saved in our memorabilia stash for many years and was eventually given to my daughter for her own son. Over 35 years later, Walter is still around and a sentimental favorite of our entire family.”

A black and white bear was given to Cheryl Ferguson when she was sick as a child. His name is Measles and, apparently having been determined to not be a disease vector, he has now been in the family for 64 years.

Today’s Slice question: To what extent do young kids pick up on it when unrelated adults find their parents attractive?