Arrow-right Camera
Subscribe now

This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.

The Slice: March marmot- ness

If we were to say that “March comes in like a marmot,” what exactly would that mean?

That March likes to get up under the hood of your car and chew up engine hoses?

That March digs up flower bulbs?

That March gets evicted by one developer after another but somehow manages to endure?

That March is hoary?

That March can be cute but will bite?

That March gives you a look that says “My kind was here before you and we’ll be here after you are gone”?

Let’s move on.

Here we are now: The other day, I tweeted a link to a piece in The Atlantic about why certain public policy decisions (that would make many here scream “Socialism!”) had helped make the Twin Cities a good place to live. The article includes a quote from a guy at the University of Minnesota that made me chuckle: “There’s basically nothing between us and Seattle.”

I noted on my tweet that apparently this gentleman had not heard the silly Spokane mantra, “Biggest city between Minneapolis and Seattle.”

That made a few people mad. So be it.

I’ve always failed to see how claiming to be bigger than Billings or Bismarck is all that impressive. And don’t people here learn anything when they fail to delineate the northern-tier restrictions of that claim and outsiders respond with “What about Denver?”

Spokane has a lot going for it. There’s no need to pretend.

Both sides now: That mention of my in-laws having lived next to Stella Stevens long ago prompted a note from my friend Mike Cain, who lives on Spokane’s North Side. He told me his mother baby-sat Joni Mitchell. I asked him for details.

“My grandpa was a Canadian National station agent, so Mom grew up in railway stations all across Alberta and Saskatchewan. It was in Maidstone, Saskatchewan, that Mom knew Joni, who was also a playmate of my aunt.”

Today’s Slice question: Ever pressed your ear to the wall in a hotel room?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Jeri Hershberger’s first real date took place when she was in the eighth grade at Sacajawea and the boy was a sophomore at LC. “His dad drove us to the Roy Orbison concert at the old Spokane Coliseum.”

More from this author