Seasonal ring-a-ding-ding
In Spokane, every time a bell rings …
Several readers reminded me of the hospital tradition of the recorded sound of chimes being piped throughout the building after a baby is born. Haven’t you always liked that?
Other answers included “Someone wants your money,” “Someone in Spokane lights a bong” and “A pinecone falls.”
That scene at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life” would feel a bit different if Zuzu had said to her father, “Teacher says, every time a bell rings someone in Spokane lights a bong.”
“That’s right. That’s right. Attaboy, Clarence!”
Sounds of the season: “You asked (Sunday) morning if there were any seasonal songs about studded tires,” wrote Deborah Chan. “Finding the challenge irresistible, I’ve risen to the occasion, writing one to the music of the Christmas song ‘Caroling, Caroling.’ Although I no longer have studded tires, I’ve written from the studded tire owner’s point of view.”
Barreling, barreling through the snow,
On studded tires I’m winging.
Piercing the ice and rutting the road,
My studded tires are singing.
I don’t care about your frown,
They take me safely up and down.
Grind, grind, I don’t mind,
To studded tires I’m clinging!
Slice answers: “My husband, Fred, often makes me laugh at the most inappropriate times,” wrote Pattie Kaminski. “I can share this one. At Mass, as the priest was emphasizing, ‘God loves us so much every hair on our head is counted,’ Fred whispers to me, ‘That’s why there are so many bald people.’ ”
Dee Hargitt remembers a time she could not stop laughing.
“Many years ago – on our first cruise – it was dessert time at dinner. Since Jerry hadn’t gotten his yet, I was offering him a bite of my ice cream. I ‘fed’ him with my spoon, and as it got to his mouth the bite slid off the spoon and slid down his shirt’s neck opening right down his chest (inside his shirt!). I couldn’t stop laughing, and Jerry never started.”
Repurposing Christmas trees: Kim Tracy shared this. “We never did take the trees to the woods but when I had a lake house on Coeur d’Alene Lake I would gather our tree and several of the discarded trees on our block and tie them to the bottom of my dock. They make excellent fish habitat.”
Today’s Slice question: Do you worry that your pets regift their Christmas presents?
Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. It’s not Christmas without hearing “Santa Claus and His Old Lady” at least once.