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The Slice: Slip-sliding away

Most answers to the question about the best seat for watching slip-sliding driving during wintry conditions came from those who have offices in the medical center area on Spokane’s lower South Hill.

They look out on the annual ice follies. “You wouldn’t believe …” was a popular refrain.

But I would be remiss if I failed to note that virtually all of these respondents added a note of empathy to their reports. Some even indicated they say fast informal prayers for the motorists.

So maybe if you were one of those drivers and managed to make it safely to your destination, thanks might be in order.

Deniability: This was the date in 1973 when President Richard Nixon told a gathering of newspaper editors, “I am not a crook” – half a year before he came to Spokane to open Expo ’74.

If you were going to declare that you are not something, what would that be?

I am not a … A) Black belt. B) Sushi eater. C) Potatohead. D) Complainer. E) Hipster. F) Snowboarder. G) Cheapskate. H) Shakespeare expert. I) Buffet survivor. J) Classically trained pie baker. K) Toupee wearer. L) Yodeling fan. M) Marksman. N) Parolee. O) Troll. P) Baby boomer. Q) Vegan. R) Class clown. S) Bassoonist. T) Relative of Tom Sherry. U) Sorority member. V) Hunter. W) Chucklehead. X) Sidewalk spitter. Y) Chess master. Z) Marmot.

Faces on Mount Spokane: Vivian Ryan proposed Jim and Eleanor Chase and Percy “Happy” Watkins.

The happiest you have been: “The happiest and the most exhausted – when we had all of our grandchildren at the lake for ‘Summer Camp,’ ’’ wrote Teresa Vanairsdale.

A small fromage hound and the activity that brings this dog running: My friend Lawrence Killingsworth shared this.

“I can take cheese out of the refrigerator – still completely wrapped in plastic – and before I even cut open the wrap, Polly will be at my feet looking up at me with that ‘What you got, dad?’ look. She’s got a nose for cheese.”

Today’s Slice question: Because it would seem there is a limit to the number of things we can get genuinely worked up about, did you eventually just stop caring about early Christmas decorating, the pre-Thanksgiving onset of yule music and countless other signs that some people start the season too early?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Name the biggest downside to having a reputation as a good listener.

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