The Slice: Leave your mud at the door

Those familiar with unpaved roads know that spring isn’t next.

First comes mud season.

Remember to wipe your feet.

“Slice answers: Readers’ picks for ideal wake-up songs included “Time Has Come Today” by the Chambers Brothers, “Working for the Man” by Roy Orbison, “Hell’s Bells” by AC/DC, “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne, “Good Morning Starshine” from the “Hair” soundtrack, “Surfin’ U.S.A.” by the Beach Boys, “Rockin Robin” (version not specified), “I Got You, Babe” by Sonny and Cher, “You’re the One that I Want” from the “Grease” soundtrack, and “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” from the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack.

No comment.

“Anchor teams: In discussions stemming from readers’ recollections of Spokane TV news people, Nancy Goodspeed’s name came up several times. So maybe it’s only fair that we let the local broadcasting pioneer share a memory of her own.

“When I arrived in Spokane in September 1975, all three network TV stations had only white, male, over-the-age-of-50 men as anchors,” she wrote. “At Q-6 they all were required to wear white shirts, a Q-6 blazer in either maroon or dark green (with the KHQ monogram on the pocket), accented with a nondescript, thin tie.”

Goodspeed recalls a phone message from an elderly viewer: “Can’t you please raise Lee Hess’s salary a bit? The poor man has to wear the same jacket every night on TV!”

“Slice answers: Lynne Lindsey’s husband, Mike, almost never addresses her by her real first name. She estimates he has said “Lynne” maybe a couple of times in 22 years.

Instead, he calls her “Moose.” It’s sort of a reference to her having lived in Alaska. And, no, she is not a large person.

Wilton Hille shared his story. “My wife’s given name is Carolyn Ann,” he wrote. “She was nicknamed ‘Suzy Q’ by her older brother. The name ‘Sue’ stuck. We have known each other 53 years and have been married 51 1/2 years. The only time I recall calling her Carolyn was when we repeated our wedding vows. Top that one.”

Jill Wakeling said it’s rare that her husband will call her by her first name. They prefer to address one another as “Babe.”

“He’ll sometimes call me Jill when we are having a heated discussion. I tell him to never call me that again. It’s a four-letter word around here.”

“Winner of Tuesday’s Slice contest: Denise Schaefer is the winner of the coveted reporter’s notebook. She and many others knew that 1985’s filmed-in-Spokane “Vision Quest” ended with Journey’s “Only the Young” playing in the background.

I picked her because she was an extra during filming who didn’t show up in the movie. Seems like she deserves some sort of recognition after all these years.

“Today’s Slice question: What’s one area in which Spokane is a national trendsetter?