This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.
The Slice: Look, nobody’s saying it’s a huge deal
But sometimes, because of pipe noise and varied sleeping schedules, the timing of mail delivery, midday heat and other issues, figuring out just when to run the lawn sprinklers isn’t always as easy as it might seem.
Marijuana and timing: “What’s amusing to me is after smoking hectares of the stuff, and finally quitting, it’s legal now and I don’t give a rip,” wrote Steve LaCombe.
Slice answer: Coeur d’Alene’s Carol Fairhurst speculated about what motivates birds to “bomb” open convertibles.
“I think it is just a challenge they like. They see a target (top of someone’s head) that is moving as fast as they are and want to see if they can hit it. Unfortunately (for them) and fortunately (for the convertible dweller) it usually runs down the back seat or somewhere else. I have never been hit on the head before, thankfully.”
Long ago, not far away: “Does anyone remember the Darigold Ice Creamery in the Parkade Plaza?” wrote Cheryl Westerman. “I used to love going there in the summer for their Blue Moon ice cream. I would love to find the recipe they used. Maybe one of your readers might know.”
I asked Cheryl when it was in operation.
“Before and during Expo ’74. I used to take the Magic Bus (that was its real name) from Cheney, shop at 2nd City, the Crescent and the Bon, and get ice cream. By Expo time I was a library page in Spokane, and I would take friends for ice cream. It was located where the drugstore is now.”
Oceangoing gulls make our inland birds look like pikers: A couple of readers shared accounts of encountering avian robbers in San Diego.
Denise Kauffman was enjoying patio dining outside a restaurant when she saw a gull snatch a rib off a woman’s plate and then, after landing nearby, swallow the whole thing. “The woman called the bird a ‘feathered rat,’ but she was most upset that of the two ribs on her plate, it had carefully chosen the uneaten rib.”
Marla DeMars said her family had season passes to SeaWorld, and after having one churro snatched by a flying raider, her kids learned to “Eat quickly with one arm up in defense.”
Today’s Slice question: What actor (past or present) would you cast as your sidekick?
Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Ever had to raise your voice when telling someone he or she needs a hearing aid?