We managed to make one more trip to the marketplace to stock up on provisions yesterday. The rain started shortly after we returned home.
It has been raining all night and through today, a good, strong, serious rain. With thunder! This blessed rain has not only knocked all the pollen out of the air, but also washed it off our vehicle, our home, and the streets.
Today I shall breathe very well indeed.
Today, the pollen count is 8.6. That’s not much better than yesterday’s 8.9.
I’m guessing the slight drop in pollen might be due to the small amount of rain we got today. It wasn’t enough rain to pull all the pollen out of the air, unfortunately.
I woke up with what I call “allergy face” – puffy face, eyes swollen and itchy. Going out in public like this tends to scare people (who assume I have a cold or flu or something they can catch from me.)
In the wee hours of the morning, I attempted to plan ahead. I was trying to get as much work done as possible before the sun came up and the pollen started spewing through the air.
I chose this moment to do an experiment. In the past, I’ve had odd reactions to coconut, once from coconut water and once from coconut in soap. Was it really an allergy? It was time to find out.
After two days of the pollen count at 7.8, it has jumped up to 8.1 today.
It was good we spent the last of our energy yesterday on obtaining enough provisions to sustain us for a week.
The “bug” my husband caught is still plaguing him. The pollen typically doesn’t affect him much, but it might today since it is so high and he is unwell.
I slept for a remarkable number of hours again, and woke up very sick. My eyes are itching. Fortunately, we have remedies for that.
My husband reminded me that today is the Valentine day. This custom is not one we celebrate, but the locals here clearly feel it is very important to participate in.
The pollen count is 7.8 for two days in a row.
I have slept a ridiculous amount of hours in a row, and my husband is sick with some kind of coughing “bug”.
We are out of provisions and too sick to obtain more right now. Thankfully, my husband braved the pollen count and brought home a meal for us.
After about a week of mostly rainy days, the sun has decided come out.
ALL the plants are spewing pollen like mad, trying to make up for what the rain took out of the air.
There are times when my allergies are bothering me, and I don’t mention it (or write about it). There are also times when my severe allergies / chronic illness becomes overwhelming. I’m struggling to cope with the worst allergy season I’ve experienced in years and it is draining the life out of me.
Spring arrived here in sunny California in the middle of February. The pollen count started hitting 7 around then. A pollen count of 7 is considered “medium-high”, but it is enough to make me very sick. Since then, I’ve been dealing with pollen counts of 8, 9, and 10.
Years ago, I started expressing my frustration in the form of haiku. It was a coping mechanism for when I worked in “retail hell”. Later, I discovered that Twitter is an excellent place to post haiku (especially after Twitter added line breaks). If you’re going to complain online, you may as well find a creative way to do it.
February turned out to be an unexpectedly difficult month from a physical health standpoint. Spring has started here in sunny California, and all the little flowers are spewing pollen into the air as hard as they can. The pollen count has been “medium-high” for days in a row, and that is high enough to make me sick.
The bright yellow and orange screenshot that is on my monitor in this photo came from Pollen.com. As you can see, the pollen count today is 8.7, which is considered to be “medium-high”. Tomorrow, the pollen count will be 9.0. After that, the pollen count goes into the tens and elevens. This is going to hurt!
