The Slice: For family dog, there is no try; only do

You might recall that last Saturday’s Slice column was devoted to cats.

Cats, cats and more cats.

Molly Zammit noted that and suggested dogs should have their day. Well, at least her dog should.

Yoda accompanies Zammit down a dirt road in the morning to get the newspaper. “My husband and I joke how he is my protector against the dangerous deer.”

At the turnaround, Yoda takes over, carrying the paper back home.

He has been doing that for more than 10 years. Rain or shine.

“In the afternoon, he carries the mail, which makes the mailman smile,” said Zammit.

Yoda also herds chickens and protects gardens from the marauding ungulates.

I wonder if he can tell what day it is, just from the heft of the paper.

Hope Zammit gives the delivery dog a hand with the Sunday inserts at this time of year. Or perhaps he employs his special Jedi powers to help accomplish the mission.

Use the force, Yoda.

Today’s Christmas tree story: Karen Mobley remembers a Wyoming Christmas in the early 1970s. “We went in the forest to cut a tree,” she wrote. “It was subzero and this was done quickly. When I got home from school, my dad had a hand drill and a bottle of wood glue. He was moving the branches around to improve on the tree’s shape and symmetry. I will never forget how upset I was because he was trying to improve a tree that I thought was just fine the way it was.”

Not that her dad was doing a bad job.

“He was always pretty handy.”

Slice answer: “I believe that ‘snowman’ falls in the same category as fireman, policeman, mailman, and human,” wrote Sue Kassa. “Even when we had a female mail carrier, I referred to her as our mailman. When I say snowman, fireman, policeman, mailman, and human, in my mind’s eye, I am referring to either sex.”

Warm-up question: What have your visitors from out of town observed about our area?

Today’s Slice question: Can the “Our family’s year in review” Christmas card letter be written without being ridiculous?