The Slice: Snow can make you feel devilish

So I was walking out of the Waterford retirement community’s main building one afternoon last week.

Over on a seldom used lawn across from the two-lane drop-off/pick-up area, I saw activities czar Betty Doerschlag brushing snow off an elderly woman.

The scene made no sense to me. What was that woman doing out there? Why was Doerschlag smiling?

I had no idea.

But what are you going to do? If you start requiring explanations for everything you see, you’ll never make it home in time for dinner.

A moment later, all became clear.

Doerschlag explained that, earlier, the woman had said it was sad to realize she would never again make a snow angel.

You can guess the rest.

Yes, after getting properly attired, that woman was escorted out onto some untouched snow. And she proceeded to get down and make an angel as Doerschlag recorded the moment with her camera.

I hope they’ll do it again next winter.

“Speaking of getting up there in years: Did anyone else wince upon seeing this headline in Thursday’s Voice section: “Softball for Seniors: Group looking for players — 50 and over — to participate in league.”

Fifty? Seniors?

Good grief. Forget softball. Maybe I’ll just get someone to help me make a snow angel.

“While we’re on the subject of getting old: Can you remember how the arrival of the first color TV changed the social dynamics in your neighborhood?

“Making “the crowd goes wild” noises: “I asked my boys, ages 11 and 9, if they make these sounds when they’re by themselves shooting baskets,” wrote Mary Cooper.

All the time, they said.

The 11-year-old even admitted that he interviews himself after making a three-point shot to win the NCAA championship.

I wouldn’t mind overhearing that.

Q: “So, were you confident it was going in?”

A: “Yeah. I got a good look, and it felt right leaving my hand.”

“Slice answer (discovering the need for corrective lenses): “I was in fifth grade when somebody told me that there were black lines painted on the basketball court,” wrote Nancy Cabe. “When I got home after school that day, I told my parents that I needed glasses.”

So her mother came up with a special vision test. She wrote a dirty four-letter word on a sheet of paper and held it up at the end of the hall.

“When I didn’t react, she realized that I definitely needed to get my eyes tested.”

Of course, that test might not work today. A jaded 2007 fifth-grader with normal vision might just shrug and say, “Yeah, so?”

“Today’s Slice question: What about your first impression of Spokane proved to be wrong?