The Slice: Something for them to crow about

Any Inland Northwest leaf raker can tell you.

It’s easy to tell when a crow is saying “Missed a spot.”

Let’s move on.

True or false: Just about everyone knows Spokane is mentioned in Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon.”

But did you know that the title of another of his novels, “The Thin Man,” was originally “The Rotund Marmot”?

No. 1 personal goal for November: For Julie Sanborn, it’s writing her Christmas letter. And she’s already done.

So I assume she expects things stay relatively quiet in her life between now and when she mails it out.

Little kids offering step-by-step instructions on preparing a Thanksgiving dinner: The Slice took a year off from that in 2011. But I would be pleased if local grade school teachers would help me cook up a fresh batch of tips for this year. (Participating teachers will receive coveted reporter’s notebooks.)

Need to have the children’s advice by Nov. 19.

I still remember some of the turkey preparation counsel from years past.

“Get all the blood off it.”

“Cook it on 14.”

And much more.

Today’s Slice question: What happens when your birthday coincides with Thanksgiving? A) You get called “Turkey baby” over and over. B) Your family makes a point of having a separate celebration for you. C) Yam cake. D) Your birthday gets drowned in gravy. E) Your presents wind up getting smeared with mashed potatoes. F) You are required to dress up like a Pilgrim. G) You get to be the referee at the dinner table. H) You blow out candles on a casserole. I) You say, “Well, I made a wish but you’re still here Uncle Bud.” J) People ask if you are the other white meat. K) Your grandmother calls out, “Who wants a piece of birthday pie?” K) The birthday song gets a new first line, “A-well-a everybody’s heard about the bird.” L) The cake is served with scoops of Tofurkey. M) The Bumpus hounds steal your cake. N) As a bonus present, relatives keep asking, “Do you feel this vehicle is safe for highway travel?” O) Other.