The Slice: Making the case for spring

Here’s a story of our winter wonderland.

Carolyn Petrie was coming out of her therapy appointment.

“I have anxiety issues,” said the 70-year-old resident of the lower South Hill.

She wanted to make it to the sidewalk and then to her bus stop. But getting there was complicated by icy conditions.

Carolyn, who uses a cane, did her best to find secure footing. But at some point she found herself slipping and then fast-stepping as she tried to recover and stay upright.

She was almost running.

“An object in motion stays in motion,” she said.

Inertia carried her past the sidewalk and out into the street, where she fell and then slid farther out onto the road.

A woman who barely had time to stop as her vehicle closed in on Carolyn, now prostrate on the pavement, got out and helped her up.

Carolyn was shaken and her hands were badly scraped, among other bumps and bruises.

The woman who stopped to assist her called 911. Carolyn was taken to a minor-emergency clinic.

She doesn’t blame anyone for her mishap. “It’s just the way it is.”

“It,” in this case, being Spokane in winter.

Marmot Lodge report: There have been no dues increases in the past 12 months.

There have been no meetings.

And no members have been asked to resign.

Multiple choice: How would you describe your Inland Northwest lifestyle?

A) Outdoorsy. B) Usually incarcerated. C) Basketball fan. D) HGTV viewer.

E) Fighting with other dog owners. F) Marijuana/literature. G) Performance frugality. H) Getting tough on Facebook and Twitter.

I) Stealing stuff at yard sales. J) Gun worship. K) Social service volunteering. L) Avoiding potholes.

M) Evading outstanding warrants. N) Cat wrangling. O) Listening to music popular when you were 25. P) Disdaining huckleberries.

Q) Reminding children that they have it easy. R) Gaining weight and tracking hairline retreat. S) Gardening/garden planning. T) Listening to neighbors argue.

U) Working on old cars. V) Wondering why certain lawmakers get re-elected and being depressed by the answer. W) Not going to the lake. X) Driving kids to and from after-school activities.

Y) Sasquatch stalking. Z) Other.

Today’s Slice question: Soon it will be springlike. People will be out and about. Once again, it will be time to ask.

Who is the Spokane area’s No. 1 hater of bicyclists?

OK, perhaps hate is too strong a word. But you know what I’m talking about.

Who is our area’s most passionate nonviolent opponent of cyclists’ right to share the road?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. If your street name was your last name …