The Slice: The Slice: When carnivores attack

There are three ways you can tell a dog is thinking about snatching a steak off the grill.

1. Furious tail-wagging and crouched butt twitching.

2. Every time you look away, the dog inches closer to the grill.

3. Dog puts on gloves and then tries to distract you by saying, “Hey, what’s that over there?”

You can run, but you can’t hide: Jeri Hershberger was at a resort on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy when she met a woman who lived in Spokane in the 1990s. “She remembered the Japanese Gardens and Cyrus O’Leary’s.”

If I drove an ice cream truck: I’d want it to play…

A) “In the Mood” by Glenn Miller. B) “Steppin’ Out” by Joe Jackson. C) “A Million Miles Away” by the Plimsouls. D) “I Will Wait for You” by Mumford and Sons. E) “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush. F) “Graceland” by Paul Simon. G) “Only The Young” by Journey. H) “Fools Rush In” by Rick Nelson. I) “Rocky Top” by the Osborne Brothers. J) “Green Onions” by Booker T. and the MGs. K) “Yes, You Can In Spokane” by Bob Bellows. L) Other.

Reader challenge: Rewrite the following song lyric, which begins Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode To Billie Joe,” a hit in 1967.

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day.

Keep the date, but then localize the rest.

Good luck. I’ll need your submission by 6 p.m. Monday.

Look for the results on the third of June.

Just wondering: What food do you regard as the staff of life?

A) Bread, of course. B) Frozen tamales. C) Potato salad. D) Hummus. E) Chips and salsa. F) Yogurt and kefir. G) Cheese. H) Oatmeal. I) Chocolate. J) Tuna. K) Ice cream. L) Leftover pizza. M) Cold cereal. N) Pancakes. O) Asparagus smoothies. P) Nougat. Q) Other.

A basement memory: “When I was growing up in Imlay City, Mich., our basement was warmed by the coal furnace so the dog bed was down there,” wrote Judy Kotar. “The cat took over the dog’s bed to give birth to kittens and I was allowed to skip school that morning so I could watch.”

Wonder how the dog felt about all that.

Today’s Slice question: What key lesson did you learn from your fast-food job?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. When contacting The Slice, please provide your phone number. I do not share it or use it for marketing purposes.