The Slice: Another tough day by the pool

The dog days of summer have arrived early.

Today’s snapshot comes from Cherie Graves, who lives south of Newport. She sent it in response to The Slice’s call for photos of crowded wading pools.

Even if most of her dogs aren’t actually in the water, I think you’ll agree that Graves’ picture qualifies as a crowded pool scene.

•Remember: It doesn’t get truly hot until the Seahawks arrive in Cheney.

•If pine cones were a cash crop: “We’d be millionaires since we live in the woods outside the city limits of Colville,” wrote Louise Stevens.

•One reader wonders: “How many left-handers had teachers tell them to use the other hand?” wrote Lynn Aus of St. Maries, Idaho. “My first-grade teacher kept putting my pencil in my right hand.”

•Best beer ever: About 25 years ago, Eric Dubes was camping with friends in Western Washington when he approached a small waterfall. “There in the icy pool below were three 16-ounce bottles of Rainier Beer. They were called ‘pounders’ back then.”

Dubes was confident that he wasn’t raiding someone’s stash.

“The beers had been there so long that the labels were gone,” he wrote.

A toast to good fortune ensued.

•The Slice recommends: Call the National Arbor Day Foundation and order a copy of “What Tree is That? A guide to the more common trees found in the Western U.S.”

The phone number in Nebraska is (402) 474-5655.

Slightly smaller than a business envelope, it’s $3 (not including shipping and handling). This illustrated booklet is the answer if you’re tired of feeling helpless when asked, “What’s the difference between a Ponderosa pine and a Lodgepole pine?”

•Silver lining: “When my daughter was about a year old, I started to have pretty bad back pain from lifting her,” wrote Kelly Hicks of Hayden.

She tried to ignore it until severe spasms sent her to the emergency room.

Her doctor prescribed 10 physical therapy sessions.

“Not knowing what to expect, I was a little nervous,” she wrote. “But it turned out to be a wonderful experience. An hour to myself, including a 20-minute massage by the physical therapist who was not hard on the eyes at all. … It was like a little spa session.”

•Slice answers: Several readers said they now wished they had paid attention when their parents tried to teach them to play the piano. Others regret ignoring lessons about keeping track of money, cooking signature family dishes and diagnosing car trouble.

•Warm-up questions: What’s your nickname for the drawer, cabinet or shelf in your home that most resembles a rat’s nest? Which local lake has the coldest water?

•Today’s Slice question (fill in the blanks): ( ) is the one Spokane TV news person who most reminds me of a bobblehead doll because ( ).

(Four lucky readers will receive bobblehead dolls from a press kit promoting the movie “Anchorman.”)