That’S Worldly Stuff
Consider yourself warned.
This is just Part 1.
“I believe my pink stuffed bear, Bertu, may well be the most traveled stuffed critter in the Northwest,” wrote Debbie Lapoint.
“I grew up in Spokane and had little travel experience myself when my anthropologist husband decided to go to India for a sabbatical. I was motivated to prove my mettle, but not without the security provided by my pink bear.
“Despite limits on luggage, we found a spot for Bertu. He accompanied us first to Japan for a week, then on to India for nine months, then visited London on the way back.
“In India, we lived in a village, and the village children quickly became enchanted by ‘Baloo’ Hindi for ‘bear.’ He got carried around and dropped in the dust countless times. That was in 1979, and Bertu is still a part of the family.”
Dennis Schneider told about Lucky Squirrel, who has been along on Washington Air National Guard deployments to places such as Saudi Arabia, Spain and Great Britain.
Michele Weinman’s little stuffed monkey, Peanut Butter, has been all across the United States and is now in Ecuador and about to embark on a trip through South America.
Sally Cotto told about a purple stuffed raccoon named BH that has been to Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California (San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles), Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma (state where BH was purchased), Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Wyoming and now Washington.
BH has also visited Belgium, Canada (Toronto and Montreal), Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Puerto Rico.
Top this: Jerry Hern of Kettle Falls, Wash., recently celebrated his 60th birthday. He received 106 cards in one week.
Meet the new boss: Mike Schieche’s 19-year-old cat, Betty Jo Bialowski, has a job title “garden supervisor.”
Slice answer: Nan Waters thinks this area’s big lakes could be known collectively as the Glacier Gouges.
Rewrite: Hal Cox wouldn’t mind writing a play called “Spoklahoma.”
Warm-up question: What’s the most interesting thing you’ve discovered in the office photocopier left there by someone else?
Today’s Slice question: In the Inland Northwest, what’s the most convincing way to demonstrate that you are a nonconformist?
The Slice appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. Diana Wilhite says the secret to great grilled cheese sandwiches is to add honey.