The Slice: You’re never too old to learn to wipe out

Here are a few things I learned from a cross-country skiing lesson up on Mount Spokane.

• If you have a good teacher, as I did (Thanks, Lisa), you can get the hang of it fairly quickly.

• Getting the hang of it and being proficient are not the same.

• Confidence goeth before a fall.

• Spokane’s Nordic skiing community includes some warm, welcoming people.

• If your wife is wearing a pull-over hat that includes little knit Viking horns, she will deservedly get most of the attention.

• Some bird sounds seem a lot like laughter.

• The S-R’s Rich Landers is everywhere at all times.

• It’s fun to be around families that embrace winter.

• It’s hard to distinguish a smile from a grimace when everyone is wearing sunglasses.

• When you can’t extricate your glove from the loop, the thought occurs that you might have to go around with a ski pole in your hand for the rest of the weekend.

• One way to demonstrate that you are a novice is to not lift up your car’s windshield wipers after parking during a snowfall.

• Nordic skiing and Nordic wiping out are related activities.

Just wondering: Would you read a newspaper feature headlined “Twenty cool Spokanites under 30 you’ll never hear of again”?

Before planning your weekend: Be sure to obtain permission from the National Football League if you intend to spend time outdoors.

One thing that can make an aging baby boomer smile: Listening to much younger people discuss Beatles albums.

Warm-up question: Do indoor exercisers keep track of their aggregate treadmill mileage?

Today’s Slice question: I’m not sure it has been done enough to be called a trope. But over the years, several filmmakers and TV producers have created scenes in which a character is singing a song and gradually it transitions into the recorded sound of the performer or group that made that music famous. I can think of three or four instances off the top of my head. I’m sure there are more.

What’s your favorite example?