Smells of Spring "Achoo"

The smells of spring... the flowers, the trees, the sweetness of
lemonade...sun screen, and meat cooking on the grill...These are the
smells that I most often associate with late spring. I enjoy the open
windows with the sounds of people laughing and chatting as they work
around the grill preparing anything from grilled pizza and vegetables
to their own signature, best recipe in the world, burgers.
But right now I am missing all of that. I am missing the open windows
and all the fabulous smells of spring because... right now my nose is
stuffy. The stuffiness is from trees that have flowers - beautiful
flowers that smell like wax and serve two purposes. First, they look
fabulous. Second, they leave me with a stuffy head! The latter is
not a great thing at all!
I never suffered from seasonal allergies until I moved to Virginia.
In Norfolk, the White Cypress bothered me. For the few days a year it
was doing its thing, I had headaches. But, once it finished, my head
cleared and life returned to normal.
Pregnancy brought my worst allergy season ever. Something about the
changed hormones had an negative impact when it came to those seasonal
allergies. I lived in Alexandria at the time... and everything
bothered me. It was awful. That said, my mosquito allergy didn't
exist while pregnant - in fact, the mosquitoes didn't like me at all.
(And that, my friends, is a very good thing as those suckers usually
love me!)
And now, since the ripe old age of 35, I experience seasonal
discomfort as a result of allergies. Perhaps if landscaping
professionals used more of the female trees and flowering bushes over
the male (and more beautiful) of the varieties... that might help out
a lot. Sure, the flowers would be less (as would the mess) and the
area wouldn't be so colorful or beautiful but... I might be able to
breathe a bit easier.
And I might be able to smell the flowers, the sun screen, the freshly
cut grass, the burgers on the grill... *sigh*
There is one bright spot at the end of this allergy laden season - I
suffer for no more than 2 weeks. When the Magnolias (which I love)
start blooming, my nose will be cleared. When the roses open, I will
be able to smell their sweet scent as well as see their simple beauty.
By Memorial day, my head will be clear so hat I can enjoy these sweet
smells and those wonderful grilled foods which are the smells of
spring and summer. And if that isn't light enough - by the time I hit
the beach and share the fireworks with friends and family, my nose
will be completely and wonderfully clear for another year. I consider
myself amazingly lucky in this regard.
But for now, call me Sneezy and pass the tissue...