Our backyard apple tree is messing with my mind.

When I started writing The Slice in August of 1992, Spokane had a thinner skin. At least that’s the way it seems. Back then, even the mildest form of subjective truth-telling about the Lilac City’s shortcomings evoked wounded cries of “Spokane bashing.”

It wasn’t Woodstock. It wasn’t even Woodstock West. But for those in the Inland Northwest, the Universal Life Church Picnic at Farragut State Park on Lake Pend Oreille had much the same appeal.

I’ve spent a lot of time in busy medical waiting rooms in recent weeks – my wife has been experiencing some troubling eye issues. And I’m here to tell you that senior citizens, a lot of them anyway, do not dress up when going out in public. Which is fine.

At this time of year, I like to think Spokane children are awed by the mere sight of those of us who are retirement age.

It’s my belief that a significant percentage of Inland Northwest residents would not admit it if they had never heard of an obscure area lake that came up in conversation.

Longtime residents of the Spokane area sometimes stretch the truth a bit when informing recently arrived transplants about just what will be expected of them here.

Unexpected street sign causes all sorts of confusion for inattentive delivery folk.

Avoiding acquaintances in the grocery store doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means you’re not in the mood for a stop-and-chat.

You can’t beat a stocking stuffed with festive (and some not so festive) column items. Well, maybe you can. But here goes anyway.

Spokane isn’t always the easiest place to get to, at least from far away. Our city is a bit remote. (Extremely remote by some definitions.) For many friends and relations, ours is a connecting flight/long drive destination. So once far-flung loved ones actually get here, we’re sometimes reluctant to let them go.

Seven months after Paul Turner’s The Slice column disappeared from the pages of the Today section, it’s back. Look for column monthly in Sunday Today.

Paul Turner looks back on a long career with The Spokesman-Review, and says farewell.

Anyone seen a pterodactyl in Browne’s Addition? Or maybe just a moose?

When it is suggested that there are two kinds of people in the Spokane area, it’s tempting to think of politics. But there are more dividing lines than that.

Let’s move on.

Talk about getting sandblasted first thing in the morning.

Let’s talk about things Slice readers who grew up in other states had to memorize as school kids.

Here, I’ll show you a partial list of the challenges they face in trying to attract a paying audience to their events.