The Slice: Bottom of Idaho brings in 2006 before rest of state

I’ve long wondered if it bothered Panhandle residents that the New Year arrives in the bottom of Idaho first. It doesn’t seem fair. OK, let’s move on.

•Slice answer: Stephanie Herrin, who turns 24 on Wednesday, saw the question about chipping in to help local winter wimps relocate.

“If ‘winter wimps’ was in the dictionary, you’d see my face right beside it,” she wrote. “I can’t tell you how much I complain about the cold weather. I think I hate winter more than any person in Spokane. I am cold from October through March and I am miserable. But would I ever expect or ask anyone to voluntarily pitch in for me to get to a warmer climate? Never. Nor would I ever donate to help people like me.

“When I can afford to do it on my own (which I will someday), then I will go ahead and make my move. For now, I’ll tough it out and continue to wear my sweaters, heavy coats, gloves, hats and scarves everywhere I go.”

Don’t go, Stephanie. Please, don’t go. Spokane needs people with your brand of honest self-assessment.

(I wrote her back and told her just that. But the Rogers High graduate said she wants to be somewhere where she can wear her “cute summer shoes” all year. I guess there are some arguments Spokane just isn’t going to win.)

•Re: that animated Coke commercial: Readers’ favorite animal kingdom absurdity in that TV spot was the fact that, in the real world, polar bears and penguins live at opposite ends of the globe.

And if they did somehow come in contact? “I believe the bears would consume all the penguins in sight,” wrote Gil Beyer.

Others noted that the apparent depiction of polar bear parents as part of a Ward and June nuclear family isn’t quite right.

But I’m reminded of something the author of “Field of Dreams” once said. Apparently some self-appointed expert on baseball history had challenged him about an arcane aspect of the depiction of Shoeless Joe Jackson. And the writer had to remind the guy of an overriding consideration: The story was not real.

•High five: Melinda Norman applauds Avista’s Sandy Jones for helping a big black cat be reunited with his family just before Christmas.

Sebastian had been missing at the time John and Angela Royer’s family moved to a new address. They looked all around, of course. They circulated fliers. But months passed and no sign of the longhaired feline.

Then he showed up again in his old neighborhood and quickly established a cookie circuit. Norman’s mom, Carol McHugh, was one of his benefactors.

But it was Avista’s Jones who tracked down the Royers and told them a furry member of their family was ready to come home. A tearful reunion ensued.

•Today’s Slice question: What were the circumstances of your all-time most dramatic slush-splash experience?