My new theory on how seasonal allergies affect me

I first became aware of the possibility that I may have seasonal allergies when I went to Art Camp at the age of 11. My drawing class went out into an overgrown, grassy field to reconnect us "city kids" with nature and develop our freeform thinking. On my way to the field, I started sneezing uncontrollably. By the time we reached the field itself, I had mucus pouring out of every facial orifice I had available for the surplus to ooze from. Fearing that I was coming down with a case of 24-hour flu during my 10-day trip away from home, I asked to return to the camp to lie down. Mid-way through the walk back to camp, my symptoms abated. By evening, I was fine.

Over the years, I've been keeping an eye on The Weather Network's Pollen Report for Toronto and have found that my allergies flare up at their worst on days with high birch pollen counts and grass pollen counts.

This year, however, I noticed that the birch pollen season barely affected me — a good sign, one that may mean that my tolerance is improving. I waited with bated breath for grass season to begin, traditionally when my allergies are at their worst. Unexpectedly, I've barely noticed the gradual increase in grass pollen levels. My eyes tend towards itchy at this time of year, but daily cold-water rinses keep this from being overwhelming.

Building on a theory I've been working on over the years, I find that my grass allergies are aggravated to the point of being unbearable on days when I'm standing beside a heavily perfumed or cologned person — usually on my subway ride in to work — as I was today. I found that the simple act of turning my head to a different airstream was enough to alleviate (but not dissipate) the strong allergic reaction I was having. Sadly, I ended up taking allergy medication while I was standing beside the overly-musked person, knowing full well that — by the time it kicked in — the aggravating stimulus would be long-gone. So, today I find myself allergy-medicated and still tainted, slightly, by the offender's bottled-scent. It would seem that it's more a combination of respiratory-distresses that cause me real difficulty, rather than any individual problem.

Sarah Slean - Lucky Me (live on Vicki Gabereau)

A lot on my mind...
...not a lot to blog about

I'm wondering how many other people are running into the same conundrum as I am: I'm still — unfortunately — undergoing more than my fair share of "character building" experience, and am uncertain about how discreet I ought to be about it. Mostly, I look back on the entries I was posting a little under a year ago, when I first started this blog, and am heartbroken that life just isn't that simple any more. I've still got a lot of slogging left before I come to the end of the turmoil.

In the meantime, I'm finally through enough of the pre-wedding chore/task backlog that I have mostly leisure activities left to attend to (i.e., books and movies I've been meaning to get to for months). So, while I am looking forward to free time, the emotional drain that will result from being able to stop and reflect on the direction my life has taken in recent months is unwelcome (but necessary).

Here's to hoping my summer isn't a wash.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...

After spending a little less than the past year almost constantly occupied with plans for the wedding and reception (not to mention the multitude of snags of various natures thrown at me in the past half-year or so), it's a great relief to be able to say, "Ah, that's done."

Once I get around to the chores which I've been neglecting for several months now (who needs spring cleaning, any way?), I suspect I'm going to be suddenly hit by a loss of things to do. For the moment — at least — I welcome it. Here's to hoping I'm bored some time in the near future!

No rest for the moderately controversial, either

With the fresh full-time job, a wedding reception in a week and a day and various medical appointments, I haven't been able to find time to blog lately. I assure you that I'm still thinking about plenty of things and hoping to express some of those thoughts in the near fuure. Just not today.