Monday, May 2, 2016

Pollen Season | We are the Silent Suffering People

Every year I am faced with the same dilemma, different dates. Spring has sprung and along with it fountains of yellow dust, leaf-like clusters of fresh buds and seasonal growth give way to headaches and sinus pressure. What's worse? I'm the Grinch - the official prophet of doom and gloom; the black sheep; the Debbie Downer. I HATE spring with every fiber of my being and each sneeze. But how vocal can you really be about something that so much of society celebrates? I turn to sarcasm, memes and Grumpy Cat to let out my inner disgust with this time of year......



Perhaps, I tell myself, I can play it off this year. With a goal of remaining indoors much of the time, and politely declining invitations for picnics, golf, gatherings which involve large fields of freshly cut grass, I will limit my exposure to the toxins and maybe no one will notice. After all, not every event on the calendar for April, May and June has to be an outdoor activity. Right? How I see spring....




Today I'm actually a little bit alarmed. At the insistence of the Trio of Fun, i.e., three rescued hound dogs, I went out earlier for a short walk. It was their idea, not mine, and I figured on keeping it safely short but was still shocked to only walk down the street only to return within minutes feeling as if I couldn't breathe. Ah. The mist and drizzle of the weekend is over and today in full force the deadly vapors once again filled the air.




See her? She didn't fall asleep in the movie because the poppies were poison or anything She just got overpowered by the pollen.




Those of us who suffer aren't welcomed into society, are we. While everyone else raves about the flowers and the beauty and new beginnings of the season, we are stocking up on Claritin and Allerga and buying pollen masks in quantity. We KNOW the others are planning outdoor festivities, rambling on about the delights of nature and Mother Earth. They are casually suggesting that events which could very well be held safely indoors, be moved OUTDOORS, because they don't care nor do they think. Let's move the meeting out to the picnic table they chant, blinded it seems by rising temperatures and a yellowish substance which coats everything each day. Each day!




I'm sorry! If you were sneezing and hacking and sounding like you are at deaths door then you may agree too.














They are the UN-affected ones who wear contact lenses every day without a second thought, sleep at night with the windows wide open and and contribute to the problem by surrounding their homes with bushes and floral growths and decorative grasses. They are the majority and can't understand why some of us would pay big bucks for an inflatable bubble we could safely exist in for several months at a time. We try to cope; we mask our snuffling with nasal sprays and air cleaners. We clean our cars off every day and never allow the windows to be open completely while we are in the house. We suffer through the season.





I wish you luck, fellow pollen-fighters. Happy Spring.




"Life on Delmarva" • #delmarvausa