pollen

I am experiencing my first bout with Hay Fever, Japanese Cedar style this year. Growing up I always had allergies to all sorts of things; dust, pollen, animal dander, and my worst, tabacco (this one was a blessing actually, I have a legitimate excuse for not being around smokers).

This would mean I'm used to what allergies do to you. But this hay fever was like nothing I've experienced. My sinuses hurt, and I had trouble breathing. Strange thing, I wasn't even sneezing.

There is supposedly many times more cedar pollen in the air this year, and even those who don't normally react (which I haven't the past 3 springs that I've been here) are being effected it seems. There's been all these images of cedar forests billowing clouds of pollen and folks with surgical masks on to keep the pollen out.