The Slice: Warning: This might date you

Larry Krueger wondered how many Slice readers remember Sunday blue laws.

Let’s see a show of hands.

Hmmm. I thought so. A lot of gray hair out there.

If you have no idea what they were all about, that means you are quite young. And you probably don’t remember having to finish your weekend shopping on Saturday.

Just wondering: “My mother, Jean Stevens, turned 98 (Sunday),” wrote Kathy Kurtz. “As we were visiting we realized that it’s been 80 years since she graduated from North Central High School, in 1936. We were wondering if there are any other classmates out there still living.”

Back then, Kathy’s mom was named Jean Ferguson.

Hey, none of that here: You know how, as a visitor, you have to take off your belt before passing through the metal detector at the police station? Sure. Well, has anyone ever had his pants drop to his ankles during this security screening?

Slice answers: 1. “I confess I’m a snob about sloppy joes,” wrote Carol Polser. “My recipe dates back to the 1960s, with one or two changes over the years. I’ve never had one better than mine.”

2. A reader reports the sidewalk at South Altamont and 11th Avenue has the year 1910 stamped in it.

3. “The advantage of a reel mower is it won’t take off your foot,” wrote Charlie Greenwood. “A finger maybe, but not your whole foot.”

Reminds me of a scene in “Mad Men.”

Warm-up questions: Would you rather be able to identify any Northwest tree on sight or know the names of dozens of stars in the sky? How many people in the Spokane area can already do both?

Today’s Slice question: What was your favorite “News from Lake Wobegon” story on “A Prairie Home Companion”?

I’ll tell you mine. Back in the mid-1980s, my wife to be and I all but wore out a set of four “APHC” cassettes on long driving trips. Collections of monologues, each tape was named for a season.

On the “Winter” cassette was a lovely story called “Storm Home.”

That was 30 years ago. But each winter, when the conversation turns to our neighbor’s cat, we sometimes remember “Storm Home” and refer to ourselves as “the Kruegers,” key figures in that tale.

Thanks, Mr. Keillor.

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Kids today think they’ve got it rough, but how would they have liked growing up in a family regime where bedtimes were strictly enforced and there was no such thing as recording “I Spy” and other shows?