The Slice: There’s a 50-50 chance rivalry involves smooth sailing

Republicans vs. Democrats? WSU grads vs. UW alums? That’s nothing.

Some extended Inland Northwest families include both sailboat people and motorized personal-watercraft people.

You be the correspondent: If you overhear an entertainingly weak excuse at Hoopfest, please report it to The Slice. Thanks.

Agree or disagree: Camping is for those who are blasé about taking showers.

Chewelah Slice reader Carole Jones wonders: “Is rhubarb the new zucchini? How many of your readers are finding mysterious bags of rhubarb on their front porch?”

Boat naming: “Many years ago, my late husband insisted on buying a boat when he retired so he could go fishing ‘whenever’ he wanted,” wrote Patricia Teller.

But the various steps involved in getting it to and from the water made using the boat something other than carefree. And so Teller’s husband wound up launching it a grand total of two times.

Before they sold it, though, Patricia came up with a name for the vessel. She dubbed it the Pita.

That’s an acronym for, well, the first two words are “pain” and “in.”

Pre-departure vacation checklists: Kenyon Fields recalled a time when his family was already on the way to the airport and he remembered that they had a bunch of bananas in the kitchen. He feared that the fruit would turn into a scary lab experiment before the family returned, so he headed back.

Violence is never the answer: Even if someone has just said, “It’s a dry heat.”

Readers and their watering cans: “I’m sort of attached to it because of all the quiet, contemplative time I have spent decorating it,” wrote Danny Johnson.

Tim Finneran’s looks like a small, blue elephant. “I call it Coco. It was a gift from an old girlfriend.”

And Nina Elo shared this. “Friends brought mine last year – brimming with flowers – when my husband died. Its job now is to help sustain life whenever it can.”

Today’s Slice question: If the S-R had a daily page dedicated specifically to the themes in life that matter most to you, what would it be called?