The Slice: Life in the state named after George Warshington

The Slice had asked about a certain pronunciation quirk.

“I am and have always been one who pronounces Washington as Warshington,” wrote Joe Stickney. “I once had ‘wash’ on a spelling test in the second grade and I spelled it ‘warsh.’ My family is always poking fun at me for it but I can’t, or won’t change.”

Judith Holter’s Spokane daughter grew so accustomed to correcting her mother’s tendency to say “Warshington” that she eventually bought her a sweatshirt with the name of the Evergreen State spelled just that way. “It’s fun to watch people read my shirt,” said Judith.

Valentine’s Day remembered: “Some 10 or so years ago, my husband, Bob, found a perfectly shaped quarter-sized heart rock,” wrote Carol Stobie. “He saved it till Valentine’s Day and set it by my breakfast plate. That was the beginning. Now friends and family present me with heart rocks that they find. The gift that keeps on giving. Last Dec. 30, Bob and I celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary.”

Mary Fisher shared this. “My father died and I got divorced the same year, 1997. My brother, Bob Fisher, put a bag of Valentine’s gifts on my front door and also our mother’s in the wee hours of the morning so we would know someone was thinking of us that day. It wasn’t ‘romantic’ in the sense you think when you hear the word, but it was the nicest, sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. I live 20 miles from him.”

Feedback on Tuesday’s column: “The ‘old guy’ in line is my husband Tom,” wrote Gini Burns. “He will celebrate his 80th birthday Feb. 12 with a family weekend of skiing. Long ago he was a navigator in the USAF, flying over the Arctic Circle during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The H bomb was at his fingertips.”

Warm-up questions: How often do you give up on a book before the end or bail on a movie halfway through? How many times have you gotten up and walked out of a concert or theatrical performance? Do you regard this as a symptom of a short attention span or is it simply cutting your losses/efficient time management in the sense of “Life’s too short”?

Today’s Slice question: A colleague slipped and fell on his driveway while out sprinkling de-icer on the slippery surface. What’s your story?