And then I wrote ... by Dick Schilling, “Editor Emeritus”

... that I have noted here before that this column is turned in a week before publication date, and so readers have history over events cited.
That said, I grew up hearing that robins arriving in Iowa from the south would “get snow on their tails three times” before the spring weather settled down. On this Monday before Easter, it has happened once, and forecasters are saying it would happen again Thursday and maybe Easter Sunday.
My mother used to remind me that old wives have experienced more things and so know more things than young people.
Speaking of creatures that share the world with humans, I was driving home one morning when I noticed a cat sitting in my lane of traffic. The cat was grey with a white tip on its tail, and appeared to be young, but not a kitten. I slowed, thinking the cat would move as the car approached. When it disappeared from my view under the car’s hood, I stopped. The cat moved, but only about six feet, then sat right in the path of the car again. Again, I crept forward, but the cat sat. Finally, I tooted the horn lightly, and it moved about a dozen feet and off to the other lane, and as I passed, it meowed, no doubt cussing me out.
It could easily have wound up road kill.
Speaking of road kill, I think maybe University of Iowa athletic teams are in need of some psychological counseling, or maybe hypnotherapy. I was upset when I learned the Iowa basketball team was going to play at 11 a.m. Sunday. I attend the 10 a.m. mass, and since they were going to mime the passion, I knew the mass would end some time after the game had started. When I tuned it in on radio on the way home, it was tied at 13-all. After I garaged the car and went upstairs to change out of my “Sunday go to meeting” clothes, Iowa was already behind by 20 points.
After trailing by as many as 34 points, the Hawks came back, and actually “won” the second half 39-33.
It was deja vu from the Rose Bowl football loss, when Iowa was played off the field in the first half, then won the second half.
UNI won its first tourney game on a buzzer-beating half court shot, then surrendered a big lead with only seconds of regulation time remaining in the second game, finally to lose in overtime
Which begs the question: Would you rather lose by a huge amount with the game decided at halftime, or lose a close game in overtime after blowing a big lead?
Or is that a Hobson’s choice?