The Slice: Always nice to be first to the ice

Since nobody else regards it as a competition, I can’t claim to be winning.

But in recent years I’ve made a point of being the first skater when the Ice Palace opens for the season. Last week was no exception.

I didn’t have the Riverfront Park rink to myself for long, though. Soon a squealing swarm of little kids descended on the open-air facility.

Hardly any knew how to skate. So there was the predictable carnage. But every child managed to get up and struggle on. Well, OK, a few crawled off the ice or clung to the sideboards as if they were lifeboats.

Watching this, it occurred to me that learning to skate is good preparation for winter. You have to face the fact that some things aren’t easy. You experience setbacks. But if you are resilient, you figure out how to cope.

Attitude is everything when learning to skate, just as it is in facing four seasons. And by the time I was leaving, it looked like a few of the kids were getting the hang of it.

Life in a northern town.

Despite The Slice’s skepticism: Judy Ellis said she and several friends swear by using horse chestnuts to ward off spiders.

Finish this sentence: Around here, the real snobs always find a way to bring up …

Trick or treat: On the way to daycare, Andrea O’Brien’s 6-year-old son, Drew, announced that he had finally decided what to be on Halloween. “I want to be a herpe,” he said.

Well, that could be scary. But when his puzzled mother questioned Drew about this selection it became clear that he meant “hippie.”

Today’s Slice question: Who tends to be more/less welcoming of increased diversity — people who grew up here or those who moved to this area knowing full well what the Inland Northwest’s demographics were?