SHE'LL HAVE THE MEOW MIX, WITH A SIDE OF SLUG

You might want to skip this if you are having breakfast.

The Slice had asked about certain wet-weather visitors.

And the subject line on Allyson Busko's email was "When SlugsAttack."

"At night, you must wear some kind of shoe when walking in ourlawn," wrote the student at Lewis and Clark High School. "Yet thereal horror about our slug population is when my sister's cat,Genevieve, comes inside after a night of prowling for the succulentlittle critters."

(OK, this is your last chance to look away.)

Busko continued, "Her mouth will be so plastered with the slug'sslime that she can't even meow. Even worse, bits of grass and dirtget stuck in the slime. It makes me wonder how tasty the slugs are.A delicacy in France, perhaps?"

Probably not. But they certainly are on the South Hill, at leastfor one feline with a French-sounding name.

Almond joy: The first item in Thursday's Slice caught JoyceMomb's eye.

"Just had to comment on the 9-year-old grandson that talks tobirds," she wrote. "Have one better. My 79-year-old hubby of 56years talks to squirrels. And guess what, they answer. I swear theyunderstand each other."

Who is to say they don't?

"Could be they are spoiled as we feed them three times a day withpremium almonds."

Could be.

Maybe pretty soon they'll be asking for macadamia nuts flown infrom Hawaii.

Just wondering: Do driving instructors here have any specialtailored-for-the-Inland Northwest tips for students?

Generation gap: Don't suppose Internet-savvy boys today couldrelate to the idea of having had a special relationship with oneparticular issue of Playboy borrowed from an older brother's secretstash.

You know, for the articles.

Consistently inconsistent: "Some people say they live here forthe four seasons," wrote Jeff Brown. "Then they complain about allof them."

Today's Slice question: Do kids' social cliques become a littlemore elastic during the final days of the school year?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509)459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Check out The Slice blog atwww.spokesman.com. You have the right to remain silent.