The Slice: Everyone loves a parade, as long as it doesn’t rain

Please fill in the blanks.

Spokane’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is a (    ) that seems to get (    ) every year.

Let’s move on.

If birds named their nests the way developers name subdivisions: “Twigs Court.” — Kathryn Hartley

“Swallow’s Swale.” — Les Graham

Just wondering: Were you ever in a production of “The Mikado”?

It was first performed on this date in 1885. Do you have a favorite line? How does your first name sound if you add “Poo”? How does your job title sound if prefaced with “Lord High”?

Follow-up on Tuesday’s Slice: “I read with interest your article on the Washington State Veterans Cemetery,” wrote Kathy Brown. “Last year I was on a drive, just noodling around, west of Spokane. I had wanted to see the veterans cemetery, but this was also the weekend of the air show at Fairchild and I suspected the traffic would be horrible getting back to Spokane.

“I decided to go ahead and stop in anyway. There’s no time like the present, right?

“The setting is peaceful and quiet, quite stark but lovely. As I was wandering around locating the graves of the folks I know, what should come screaming across the sky overhead but the Thunderbirds! It brought goosebumps to my skin and tears to my eyes. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.”

Warm-up question: Who was the best basketball player you ever played with or against?

Today’s Slice question: How do you react upon discovering that someone you just met is a smoker? A) If I like the person, my heart sinks a little because I know our social interactions will be severely limited. B) I’m a smoker myself, so it doesn’t fluster me. C) I sigh and find myself reminded that I wouldn’t wish those health implications on anybody. D) I try not to define the person strictly in those terms, but that can be a challenge. E) I lecture the person because I am sure no one else has ever pointed out that smoking is a self-destructive habit. F) Other.