The Slice: Let’s hope there’s no snow sequel

This date in 1950 was also a Friday the 13th. That’s when a blizzard hit the Northwest. It was a storm that state weather-watchers eventually ranked as one of Washington’s top 10 meteorological events of the previous century.

In Eastern Washington and North Idaho, lower-elevation snow depths ranged up to 50 inches. Multiple fatalities were attributed to the storm, which ushered in a prolonged deep freeze.

Over in Ephrata, Paul Kembel was planning to get married that weekend.

“I’ll never forget that storm,” he said.

The snow accumulated at a ridiculous rate.

Still, the church wedding in Ephrata went off as planned, said Kembel, who now lives in Spokane with his wife of 56 years, Marion.

But the honeymoon had to be put on hold. The Kembels had reservations at the Davenport Hotel. But getting to Spokane was not possible. “You couldn’t go anywhere,” he recalled. “There was just so much snow.”

So, a little ahead of schedule, the newly hitched couple went directly to the house they had arranged to live in as their first married home.

“The next morning, at 7 o’clock, the milkman knocked on our door and gave us a quart of milk,” said Kembel. “He said it was a present.”

“How to know when you’ve become your mother: “It happened at 8:32 this morning,” wrote Cindy Hval on Monday. “My son had warmed up the car for me, buckled his brother into his car seat and turned on the radio. I got in the car and then it happened. The words slipped past my brain and out of my mouth: ‘You call this music!’ ”

“Friday quiz (TV trivia): Identify “You are a bird in this world,” “Darn that Pope,” and “Now if I just had a high-speed drill in my molar, I could really kick back.”

“Seasonal adjustment: Cheney’s Ed Yarwood admits he was puzzled by the oil and fuel recommendations that came with his snow thrower. The instructions include separate directions for winter and summer operation. “Summer?” wondered Yarwood.

“Salute to superstition: The other day, Kim Borg was cleaning windows outside a building on a busy stretch of North Monroe. He had no choice but to momentarily position his ladder in such a way that anyone using the sidewalk had to walk under it.

Well, a pedestrian approached and Borg heard her muttering about having to choose between going under the ladder (and risking bad luck) or stepping out into the busy street and inviting a less theoretical kind of misfortune.

Naturally, she opted to walk out into the traffic to go around.

“Today’s Slice questions: How comfortable are you with the apparent profile of people who watch your favorite TV shows (based on the products/services featured in the commercials)? Is there a show that really has you pegged?