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The Slice: Do you take your plunge with ice?

I’ll tell you why this is a great time of year.

It’s because nobody around here is asserting that the lakes are warm enough for swimming right now.

So nobody will be calling you a chicken this weekend.

Soon enough, someone who is out of his mind will try to rush the season by suggesting that the water might be OK for a quick dip. But right now, that insanity is still weeks away. Months even, in settings where common sense reigns.

Some of that water was snow a few days ago. Everyone knows it.

It is going to be too cold for a while.

Here’s the thing, though. A lot of people who enjoy swimming do not enjoy swimming in cardiac-arrest water. But not everybody accepts this.

Some lake visitors are into dares, taunts and casting aspersions on the fortitude of those who would prefer to wait for July.

“Come on in – don’t be a baby!”

Yes, of course, an adult ought to be able to rebuff such childish goading without giving it a second thought. Still, that doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying. That is especially true when it happens over and over.

But right now, there is a blissful silence. Those who do not savor being submersed in frigid water don’t have to defend themselves or make up excuses.

That time will come. Probably be here before we know it.

For the moment though, at least in one sense, the water’s fine.

Slice answer (Re: donating high quality fishing gear): Mike Bush has a plan, and it seems like an excellent idea.

“I am an avid fly fisherman and fly tier,” he wrote. “Over the last 67 years I have accumulated a bunch of ‘stuff’ for this sport. I have two sons and hopefully grandkids in a few years. I have put in my will, whatever the kids and grandkids don’t want/need, should be donated to Project Healing Waters. It is a great program for wounded vets.”

To find out about Project Healing Waters, call (509) 315-8867.

Today’s Slice question: What is something that probably would be overlooked at most places but would get you fired where you work?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Not surprisingly, quite a few readers knew that “Peace is Our Profession” was the motto of the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command.

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