And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I may be convinced that there is global warming, but not by the normal reasoning. Rather, the factor is that there was no blizzard during either the state basketball tournaments for girls or boys. It seemed to me during high school and university days, as player or fan, and later as a sportswriter who had to travel to games, that there was always bad weather during one or the other. Not this year.
Also convincing is the fact that as soon as the snow thawed away, the narcissus border around the one-time flower (now weed) bed showed two or three inches of green growth.
So suddenly, it is spring.
Also spring (March Madness) events are the NCAA basketball tournaments. Iowa teams of men will represent all three major universities, Iowa, Iowa State and University of Northern Iowa. It has to be rare for a small population state to have three entries in that 64 (and a couple more) team field.
Whatever the signs are, I am ready. Because I went through about a week of feeling absolutely miserable in February. It wasn’t pneumonia, I guess, but a severe case of chest congestion or bronchitis or something. For three nights and a portion of a fourth, I could not lie down and try to sleep, because of being wracked by a cough or kept awake by the noise of trying to breathe. So, I would curl up in the corner of the davenport, slouched, half-sitting up, and try to sleep, usually to no avail. There is something about being miserable and alone at two or three in the morning, hoping for dawn so you can get up and have a cup of coffee, that I would not wish on anyone!
I missed a haircut during the time, and sort of looked like Bernie Sanders by the time I recovered.
Subsequently, I had an echocardiogram, a whole panel of blood tests, and my annual Medicare wellness visit and physical, and no real damage or significant problems were indicated.
There were years while I was working when I would have a siege of bronchitis either in the fall or spring, sometimes both. It was never bad enough to keep me from work, although I probably affected, maybe even infected, my fellow workers and others with whom I came in contact. Apparently we older folks are not as able to “just live with it!”
There may be a lull in political phone calls, but they keep pestering us seniors with daily calls containing an “important message.” And for the benefit of those who want to review my credit card status, I don’t have one.
Whatever happened to that “don’t call” list?