I used to scoff at allergy sufferers. In springtime their noses would turn red and spout vernal effusions. The victims are the ones with runny eyes; lethargy overriding their spring fever. I used to scoff, that is, until we’d lived in Ashland for a few years. Springtime allergy is epidemic here. The biologists report that we live at the convergence of three bio-regions. These regions have names, but there’s no point in getting too technical. This means that we have a huge variety of trees and plants conspiring to make our noses run.
A few years ago as the golden pollen from the ponderosa pine appeared on all flat surfaces from car hoods to window sills, I began to notice the telltale sign of allergy. My self-proclaimed healthy state and well-tuned immune system have been no match for the pollens that turns one into a rheumy mess of wadded Kleenex.
Spring is the time of gorgeous wildflowers and green grasses and, in our little valley, four kinds of vetch. Everything is blooming, regenerating and replenishing itself. Which one(s) of these beauties are we allergic to? There are too many culprits.
It could be the madrone which is blooming profusely. We all like madrone for its handsome orange bark. Later the robins and waxwings will party on the ripened, fermented, berries and, inebriated, fly into windows.
Perhaps it's the mule’s ear, a showy sunflower that is quite prolific on sunny slopes and partial shade. The mule’s ear is an attention getter clumped among the hound’s tongue and red bells. Mule’s ear gives the impression it was planted and fertilized by some stealthy gardner because the plant is always so healthy and vigorous looking with bright, well-shaped leaves and showy, yellow blooms that really pop.
I’d like to blame it on poison oak which is ubiquitous in the woods and along the roads. The leaves and stems of poison oak are covered with an almost invisible oil. It causes contact allergy in some but not in others. The skin gets bumpy, then inflamed and, if not treated, spreads an oozes fluid. It itches too. Poison oak has little blossoms at this time of year and is a suspect.
Maybe it’s the big leaf maple. They produce a tremendous number of blooms that hang like grapes from the thick limbs.
I still lean towards blaming the ponderosa pine. The ponderosa is a handsome mess, always shedding it’s six inch pine needles to cover the flagstone or plug the gutters. And, in spring it’s flowers ripen, burst and spew gold dust.
The allergy sufferer has a medicine cabinet full of remedies that don’t work, but instead cause dehydration, constipation and drowsiness. They plod through spring with the caveat to “not operate heavy equipment.”
I have my favorite natural remedies (that don’t work). Today, I’m taking a couple drops of Citricidal (grapefruit extract) every couple of hours. It’s not supposed to do a thing with allergy but it feels good on my throat. And, it should help prevent an infection from developing because of its anti-microbial qualities. Another grapefruit extract product, Nutribiotic Nasal Spray is fun to squirt up your nose.
We have figured out how to beat Ashland’s allergies. We’re leaving town.
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