The Slice: Speculating about the diets of older women

I’m not saying this is everyone’s fear when it comes to certain older women.

But, well, here’s the story.

“My friend was visiting with her 5-year-old grandson when he announced that he could not eat peanuts because he was allergic to them,” wrote Mildred Scheel. “In trying to help him know that she could relate to his condition, she replied, ‘And I’m allergic to cats.’

“After a horrified gasp and an ever so slight pause, the boy responded, ‘Grandma, you eat cats?’ ”

No, kid. Pay attention. She’s allergic.

Waking from a not-so-long winter’s sleep: Karen Mobley has been tracking the reader-submitted stories about insect infestations in Christmas trees. It reminded her of something that happened a few Christmases ago.

“I brought in a stack of frozen firewood and put it next to the fireplace. As it warmed up on the hearth, a wasp nest in the wood thawed out enough to enliven the wasps.”

Let’s just say it’s bad when that happens indoors.

Slice answers: Here’s what Tom Stewart suspects when he notices an increasing number of hairs on his computer keyboard.

“The cat may have been surfing inappropriate websites.”

Dan Mork saw the question about what local place names would have been right at home in a Jane Austen novel. The former mayor of Millwood proposed, what else, Millwood.

Diane Jones had a New Year’s resolution for others: “Kindness.”

Jeanette Schandelmeier saw the question alluding to Whoville residents being known as Whos. “Of course, those of us in Sagle (Idaho, in case you forgot) are known as Sages.”

Paul Rohrbach was among those who said the best thing about Spokane’s considerable distance from a larger city is its considerable distance from a larger city.

Cynthia Laird’s favorite Christmas episode of a TV series was an installment of “M*A*S*H.”

“Chokes me up every time.”

Upon noticing that it is a couple of minutes past midnight, a doctor in the show moves the hands of a clock back, altering the official time of death so some young soldier’s parents would not learn their son had died on Christmas Day.

Quite a few readers remember being quarantined, for one ailment or another.

And lots of readers recall “Fibber McGee” and his famous closet. (The contributor alluding to “Fibber McGee’s refrigerator” in Sunday’s column was taking holiday license with the expression.)

Today’s Slice question: To what extent are Spokane media rendered irrelevant to you because the sports teams you care about are not local?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Do you have a favorite pagan ritual when it comes to observing the winter solstice?