The Slice: Delivering a tree in the clutch

Do you have a memorable story about obtaining a Christmas tree?

Please share.

Meantime, here’s this.

“Our favorite year was nearly 23 years ago, when my wife, Debra, was eight and a half months pregnant with our son,” wrote Bruce Howard. “She was supposed to be on bed rest due to some issues, but had avoided hospitalization by promising to take it easy.

“Long story short, our old Subaru slid off the road above Fernan Lake. Digging, pushing, et cetera ensued. But my wife was having trouble managing the clutch and steering out of the ditch. So she pushed while I drove.”

Let’s let that sink in for a moment. She’s supposed to be on pre-delivery bed rest. And instead she’s out in the North Idaho woods pushing a stuck car.

I ask you. Is it any wonder some doctors drink?

OK, back to Bruce’s story.

“We made it happily to Coeur d’Alene, and thought we might as well enjoy lunch. We walked around a corner and almost into her doctor, Beth Orenstein. Beth looked at us funny and said, ‘You’re the reason I’m wearing this’ (pointing to her pager).

“We said we were just out for a Saturday jaunt, and promised to get home soon. About 10 days later, we had a healthy baby … and a great tree.”

Slice answers: No responding readers seemed to think eating potentially clothes-staining foods while leaning back in a reclining position qualified someone to be labeled a daredevil.

“I would say it makes me a slob at heart,” said Fred Hartwell.

The shifting sands: Lisa Giegel has a friend who was seeing a man who stuck a love note in her luggage before she left on a trip to the Midwest.

He had come up with a creative way to write it.

“The problem was that by the time she got to Chicago and found the Etch-A-Sketch, the message was long gone.”

Warm-up questions: What’s the best way to get young children to dress appropriately for winter weather when they fight you at every turn about putting on all that stuff? How many cats regard your home as a felines warming station?

Today’s Slice question: Is the word “snowman” sexist?