The Slice: GRILLING LEGENDS

There’s no friend like an old friend.

It’s true with people, and it’s true with backyard barbecue grills.

Consider the case of Spokane’s Gary Larson. He acquired his “old gal” while living in Phoenix in the early ‘80s.

“The paint is peeling off the outside and the grill surfaces are starting to rust through,” he wrote. “The coal grate in the bottom has about had it, too.”

But he’s not about to turn his back on it.

“My daughters keep threatening to buy me a new one,” he said. “But I’m not sure I could figure out how to cook on something shiny and new. Besides, I’m sure the steaks would not taste as good.”

There is, after all, something to be said for the value of experience. Looks aren’t everything.

Pullman’s John McNamara was another who answered The Slice’s call for snapshots of high-mileage grills.

He got his 25 years ago, as an anniversary present.

“Its legs gave out,” he wrote. “Actually the ‘hip joints’ gave out. But with the help of prosthetic devices, it still carries on.”

McNamara admitted that the unit is not pretty. But he said it has served his family well.

“The grill has cooked everything from steaks to pizza, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter dinners, rain/snow/wind, et cetera.”

What more could you ask?

Barb McDonald in Post Falls calls her backyard cooker “Ol’ Faithful.”

“Seldom under cover, he toughed out many years of abusive weather, heavy scrubbing and numerous paint jobs,” she wrote.

It became a part of the family in the early ‘90s.

One level of the grill is no longer fit to cook on – there’s rust, broken wires, et cetera.

But the other surface works fine. “It will still get the job done,” she said.

McDonald is counting on many more years of loyal service.

“They just don’t make them like this anymore. Who needs stainless?”

I’m declaring those three (plus the Walker family grill I noted a few weeks ago) the winners.

Honorable mentions go to Lloyd Lund, Paul Karr, Gordon Milbrandt, Ann Byers Allen, Jackie Ogden and Ken Barnett.

Thanks to all who offered testimonials to seen-better-days backyard veterans that can still bring the heat.

Just wondering: Has anyone ever tried a teeth-whitening regimen as a way to curtail nocturnal snacking?

Slice answers (same first names as showbiz couples): Lucy DeVleming is married to Ricky.

And Moses Lake’s David Vega knows of a Nick and Nora (“The Thin Man”) there in his town.

One theory: You know how sometimes people just stare at you as if you had a meerkat perched on your shoulder? Maybe it comes from watching so much TV that the ability to govern one’s facial expressions has been eroded.

Slice answers: “Kids of all ages get a kick out of yard camping,” wrote Mike Rush.

He sent a snapshot of his daughter and her friend in sleeping bags on the lawn, with Marvin the cat nestled between them.

“My 10-year-old daughter and husband both like to camp in the back yard,” wrote Denise Masiello. “Not me. I prefer a bed. They make fun of me for complaining too much. Our dog even has her special little corner of the tent.

“I make a big bowl of popcorn and we all sit in the tent and eat, tell jokes and play cards. Then I go off to my comfy bed.”

Editor’s note: Remember when I said I was going to protest the unnecessary use of “Washington state” in situations where it’s clearly not the District of Columbia being discussed? Right. I said that, for the remainder of 2006, I was going to attach “state” to other state names appearing in The Slice.

Well, halfway through the year, I am abandoning that pledge.

It’s distracting and detracts from a smooth reading experience.

Today’s Slice question (fill in the blank): Nobody around here who cares about the truth takes () seriously.