The Slice Some Names Come With A Reputation Attached
When 4-year-old Zach Amsbury was asked for his thoughts about what to call the family’s new puppy, he didn’t hesitate to suggest a name.
“Baby Jesus,” he offered, in the spirit of the season.
Ahem. Yes. Wellllll. Ummmm.
The family eventually named the dog “Kodak” instead.
Lingering loyalty: “My husband Rod grew up on the North Side with his 12 siblings,” wrote Linda Donnelly. “But he is the only one who has moved to the South Hill. However, he can’t resist driving by his childhood home whenever visitors come to town. And it was the first place he headed after the ice storm - to see if the maple tree he planted as a kid was still standing. (It was.)”
Pet Names Department: We heard about a 20-pound black-and-white cat in Sandpoint called “Holstein.”
Free-range children: A Christmas pageant isn’t complete unless one of the “sheep” bolts from the flock and makes a mad dash for freedom.
Time’s running out: A reader called to say that if people aren’t ready yet, they’d better get cracking. That’s right. Bloomsday will be here before you know it.
Being prepared to attend a concert, Part 2: Sacajawea Middle School’s “Winter Wonderland” strings program was held at Ferris High the other night. And just as the seventh-grade Kaleidoscope Ensemble was to start, something went wrong with Jena Robinson’s cello, wrote Nancy Brown.
The conductor, Karen Bart, half-jokingly asked the audience if anyone had a Leatherman multipurpose tool (a reference Slice readers will understand). In lieu of that, Debbie Roundy, seated in the second row, produced a Swiss Army knife from her purse. With that tool, the cello was repaired and the concert began.
Holiday card of the year: That title might go to Spokane’s Edmond Bruneau family. Theirs is a dead-on imitation of the packaging that contained the Beatles’ White album - including a parody lyric sheet.
Warm-up questions: What local office building is most consistently kept at a ridiculously warm temperature? When is some film producer going to figure out that, instead of always making them sidekicks, a kids’ movie STARRING a raccoon would be a sure hit?
Today’s Slice question: Should your workplace have a penalty box?
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing
MEMO: The Slice appears Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. An 83-year-old Spokane reader named Mildred sent us her gift list. It has 113 names.