The Slice: The Slice: In the clutches of Spokane

This isn’t Spokane bashing.

It’s more like Lilac City disaffection.

An email arrived from a correspondent whose good-natured submissions have been in The Slice quite a few times. It came with a request that, on this occasion, I not print the sender’s name.

“I’ve been thinking serious thoughts lately about whether I want to continue living in Spokane as I age, become more decrepit, and find months of snow and ice to be less and less appealing. That leads me to a question: How many people, like me, feel somewhat trapped in Spokane?

“It’s a matter of having a limited income coupled with Spokane’s relatively low cost of living. When I reflect on places that I might prefer to live, as compared to Spokane, I find that I could not even afford a small studio apartment in those places for the amount of money I pay on my current home mortgage here. More and more, I feel like I would like to move somewhere more sunny and warm, but circumstances lead me to feel trapped in Spokane. I wonder how many others might feel the same for these, and perhaps other, reasons.”

Slice answer: Kathy Hansen’s dog, Jackson, doesn’t have a thing about children’s stuffed animals. But he does get excited about a black stuffed canine belonging to Kathy’s mother.

“If my mom knows we are coming she hides the dog but that doesn’t stop Jackson from looking for it.”

He probably knows the stuffed dog’s scent by now.

“It’s the only toy he wants to play with when he is there. If he is lucky enough to find it, he shakes it like mad. Is that love or something else?”

If there was a marijuana museum …: Chattaroy’s Cassandra Wheeler said one exhibit would be dedicated to recapturing the vibe of an illegal “grow store” where one could purchase soil, nutrients, lights and other necessary equipment for the cultivation of “tomato plants.”

She went on. The exhibit would also depict a “Parking lot full of 4WD Toyota pickups with firewood in the back, driven by bearded long-haired men from Colville in wool pants and flannel shirts.”

Others suggested a display of homemade pipes fashioned from pop cans or toilet paper cores wrapped in aluminum foil.

Today’s Slice question: Ever had one of your children offer parenting tips on dealing with that child’s sibling?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. I think I’ve asked this before. But I wonder who has crossed the Washington/Idaho state line the greatest number of times.