The Slice: Forecast for a Whiny Christmas

I‘ve now encountered Spokane’s ultimate winter wimp.

So I’m walking home Monday afternoon. I’ve got my earphones in. And, as usual, I’m scanning from one end of the radio dial to the other.

A guy on an FM station starts talking about the week’s weather. I’m not really paying much attention.

But then he gets to the forecast for “Thursday, Friday and Saturday.” And he says we could be in for, as he put it, “the s-word.”

Clearly, from that and other things he says, he seems to think the prospect of a little snow is grim news.

I think my jaw dropped.

Mere days before Christmas, someone is complaining about the chance of snow?

Unbelievable. Maybe he’s dreaming of a brown and gray Christmas.

Of course, I’m sure he simply believed he was reflecting prevailing community sentiment about weather. He probably watches TV news crybabies who shiver and quake about any conditions that would require the slightest degree of hardiness.

Some of us need to get out a map and review this region’s latitude.

If you actually dread the idea of a little snow just before Christmas, you’re in the wrong place.

“Sour note: There’s a temptation, when imbued with holiday spirit, to get all giddy about human nature and lose sight of reality. So let’s try to remember what some people are like, even at this time of year.

Friday night, someone broke into John Bennett’s pickup truck and stole his violin. The instrument, in a blue case, had been tucked behind a seat and covered with a sweater.

The thief, who pried open one of the truck’s doors, stole the sweater, too. Two bows were also swiped.

“It kind of hits you,” said Bennett, who plays for the Spokane Symphony.

The break-in took place while he was in a burrito joint near the GU campus.

Also stolen were several little gift bags of marzipan treats. “Probably thought they were drugs,” said Bennett.

He has another violin. But the stolen one is special to him.

“For a musician, our instrument is our distinctive voice that is not easily replaced,” said Tina Morrison, president of the local musicians’ union.

The violin has a label that reads “Wilhelm Kapfhammer Bavaria Fasiebat Annon 1992.”

If you have any information about its whereabouts, contact the union office at (509) 328-5253. There’s a reward. A no-questions-asked return can be arranged.

Naturally, I hope the instrument gets back to its rightful owner. But my real reason for running this item is the fact that a violinist driving a pickup is a perfect snapshot of Spokane.

Today’s Slice question: What was the snowiest Christmas you can remember?