Curse the cedar!

It has begun. The ailment commonly known as cedar fever. I won't bother to describe it myself. Here's a quote "From December through February, many people experience an itchy, runny nose, sneezing, nasal blockage, excess tearing and itchy eyes. Others complain of itching of the palate, throat, or ears, and postnasal drainage. Some have fatigue, mild headache, facial discomfort, sore throat, partial loss of sense of smell, and sensation of ear plugging. If you experience the above symptoms every year during these months, the chance is great that you have Mountain Cedar allergy. "

Articles abound: 1, 2, 3, ... If you're not familiar with this "scourge" all I can say is - it's truly a beating. I woke up from a bad dream at ~4:30a.m. and I could tell immediate there is something in the air and it's not the scent of roses. The antihistamine that keeps the symptoms relatively at bay keeps me up so I take something else at night. The something else only lasts 4 hours. I had put additional doses by the bed for just this situation. I popped a pill and lay back down for some additional shut-eye. Ten minutes later, my brain is in high gear. In part trying to shake the images from my bad dream, in part because I have 999,954 things left on my to-do list and in part because the medicine doesn't offer immediate relief from the maddening sinus-itchiness of this plague.

So I shouted (in my mind) "Curse the cedar!" And it is so. Our house backs onto acres of undeveloped land that is COVERED in cedar trees (when the sun finishes coming up I'll add "Take a picture of cedar," "download picture of cedar from camera," "upload picture of cedar onto 'Curse the cedar!' post" to my list of things to do, bringing the total up to 999,957). An "upscale" development is going in behind our "not so upscale" development and the cedar in my immediate vicinity will be eradicated.

I will miss the trees during the 9 months they don't irritate the snot out of me (literally), but I won't miss them during the December-February trial of powdery pollen. And for the tree-huggers out there - this is NOT a native tree. It is a weed that has come in and caused problems for natives like Live Oaks. It is a water hog - exacerbating our periodic drought conditions. It chokes out flora and fauna alike. It should be eradicated. But I'm sad that with them will go the oaks and other assorted survivors from the acres behind us. My view from my office will be forever altered. Somehow, I suspect my future holds a smaller home, back in Xurbia, back in the woods, surrounded by more of the cursed weed. {sigh}

Peace,