That Might Explain Smell
When gathering up loose dirty laundry, you can tell you aren’t carrying a full armload if you don’t drop the same sock 20 times.
* Today’s cat story: “When we moved to Orchard Prairie, ‘Charlie,’ a tiny manx tabby, came with the barn,” wrote Dona M. Van Gelder. “Two litters later, we scheduled a spay date with a traveling vet.
“This was no simple feat, since Charlie had never been handled. Wielding gloves and a quick sedative rendered her groggy but amazingly fast. Luckily she ran into a corner of the pasture, and the deed was accomplished.
“Charlie, though weighing less than four pounds, could catch mice and moles with the best of them — sometimes even an errant pigeon. She could outfox most dogs and could climb straight up the studs of the barn. She eventually allowed minimal petting, but she remained our forever independent super rodent exterminator.”
* Slice answers: Barbara Kertson of Elk said her husband refers to their recliner as “the Golden Sleepy Chair” while she calls it “the Piggy Bank.”
And Gail Kopp of Mica sent a photo of a reclining chair being burned outdoors. “I had many nicknames for this chair, none of which you can print,” she wrote. “It was old and ugly when my husband’s sister gave it to him, and I never wanted it in the house.”
* Annual reminder: Drive carefully. You never know when you are going to hit a stretch of road covered with smashed pumpkins.
Remember, to regain control of your car when schussing on jack-o’-lantern glaze, turn into the direction of the skid.
* While we’re on the subject: Smashing strangers’ Halloween pumpkins isn’t something you wind up feeling proud about years later.
Sure, it ticks off adults. But it also upsets small children. And who wants that on his conscience?
* Just wondering: Should there be a little ceremony to coincide with the final lawn-mowing of the year?
* Signs that maybe there’s still hope:
1. In conversation, most people don’t seem to mind if you pat them on the shoulder in a friendly way.
2. Most people are still pretty nice about wrong-number calls.
3. When approaching a street corner, some young kids reflexively reach up with one arm in anticipation of an adult taking their hand.
4. Sharon Stone wanting to be in “The Mighty.”
* Today’s Slice question: To what extent do Spokane women judge one another on the basis of hair styles?
Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. Maybe Spokane should consider comparing itself to Omaha or Duluth.