Spring has sprung and, of course, brings pollen season with it. What we are experiencing now is primarily pine pollen, released by coniferous trees from March until May. Oak, birch and cedar throw their two cents worth in as well, but the main contributor is pine. Some years are worse than others but pollen season is always aggravating, to say the least. It descends upon us often in a yellowish-green cloud and hangs around for what seems like forever. Along the way it is a severe irritant to those allergic and covers everything from cars to cats. I’m serious. We once had a black cat named Penny and during the spring she walked around with a yellow-green tint on her coat. She also sneezed a lot.
I finally hosed the cars off last week. My dark blue convertible was yellow. So was our white Sorento. The next day there was a yellow haze on both of them again. A word of advice; use a garden hose. Don’t spend money on a car wash, even the self-serve kind with a wand. It’s a waste of time and cash. On the other hand, our water bill will probably go up measurably.
The good news for us Georgians is that, due to the state’s warm climate and humidity, pollen season lasts almost year-round. The first is, of course, the spring season. Right on the heels of the yellow clouds and puddles after a rainstorm comes the grass pollen season, lasting until around June. This often overlaps the yellow-green season of April, resulting in a double whammy for allergy sufferers. Then in August, we’re treated to ragweed pollen season, which generally lasts through November, until the first freeze. By that time, many of us are hoping for a long, cold winter.
I was never really bothered much by hay fever, as it is often called, but as I get older the more the pollen irritates me. It doesn’t really burn my eyes or cause congestion, but will periodically send me into sneezing jags that seem to last for hours.
Last week Jackie and I were returning home from Douglasville on I-20. As we topped Six Flags Hill, we could barely see the beautiful view of the Atlanta skyline for the haze. “Do you think that’s from the pollen or smog?” I asked her. “Probably both,” she replied. I’m sure she was right. I’ve only seen a real cloud of the yellow stuff once that I can remember. I was driving down East Atlanta Road toward Stockbridge and a massive yellow cloud blew across the road ahead of me, from one group of trees to another. It was both impressive and unnerving at the same time.
I did some studying and learned that the pollen is the windborne reproduction system of the pine trees, fertilizing female pinecones. I never realized there were male and female pinecones, but I suppose it makes sense. It’s all part of nature. So, we will deal with it as we have every spring. We’ll take our Claratin and watch the pollen counts. We’ll cough, sneeze and grumble that we can’t wait for the stuff to go away, even though we have the grass and ragweed seasons to look forward to. We’ll hose off our cars, our decks, our driveways and whatever else gets covered in the yellow-green dust. But not our cats. Don’t ever try to hose off a cat. I’m sure that Penny wouldn’t have taken to that very kindly at all.