Well, surprise, surprise. It’s another warm, sunny day out. Two days in a row. That makes me happy. And the flowers blossoming on the magnolia tree outside my office window also make me happy. So I should probably make my body happy by taking a walk in the park at lunchtime. However, if I do go for a walk, my allergies will kick up and that’ll make me kind of unhappy.
The older I get, the more allergies I seem to develop. Dust? Check. Ragweed? Check. Housecleaning? Check. (Oops. How’d that one get in there?)
I’ve been allergic to "spring grasses" since I was a kid, which is a good catch-all sort of allergy to have, huh? I remember when I was about 8 years old, my friends and I took advantage of the sunny spring day when the grass was all fresh and green. We decided to have a contest to see who could somersault down the front lawn the fastest. The fact that we were heading toward the street didn’t seem to strike us as even slightly dangerous. Guess we figured any neighbors driving along would see three crazy kids rolling down the lawn and would stop if we ended up in a heap in the middle of the road. (This was before cell phones and texting and other distractions, mind you. People usually just drove back then. Imagine that.)
Anyway, I was fine and dandy when I started out, but by the time I reached the curb at the end, my eyes were watering and I could barely breathe because I was so congested. I remember thinking, wow – that cold came on QUICK! Hey, what can I say? Eight-year-olds are not exactly known for their deductive reasoning skills. But that began what was the first of my allergy tests. And the number of things I'm allergic to has only grown over the years.
Fortunately, there have been very few occasions where somersaulting down the front lawn has been required in my adult life; thus, I have not experienced such rapid-onset allergy symptoms.
And the good news is that I’m not allergic to chocolate. Or red wine. Or nuts. I have friends with allergies to all those things and I’m grateful that I can happily indulge – sometimes simultaneously even! No, all I need to do is stay away from ragweed. And pollen. And housecleaning. (Darn. I’m just not gonna get away with that one, am I?!)
Yes, I could take an allergy pill – and I will probably start taking them on a more regular basis now that spring has arrived. But I think I’ve talked myself out of taking a walk in the park at lunchtime. Not that it gets me out of exercise since I’m headed to the gym after work. But I’m just wondering…will it get me out of housecleaning when I get home after that?
“Ah-choo! Sorry, honey…I *sniff, sniff* am feeling allergic. Must be to the housecleaning…!”
Darn. Give it up, Jane. It’s not gonna work…
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