Ragweed Blues

It's that time of year again - not back-to-school time, although it obviously is back-to-school time. For me it's also ragweed season, and let me tell you, I am looking gorgeous.

For those not in the know, ragwood is a wind-pollinating feckin' weed that, according to Wiki (see link above) is "the greatest allergen of all pollens" and "the prime cause of hay fever in North America." And dare I say, the bane of my life. There are also scores of varieties, so it's almost impossible to avoid them. The pollen is invisible but apparently sticks to everything, including clothes and the inside of your nostrils.

Every year at this time I get the usual sneezes and mucus drainage. Sometimes an anti-histamine works and sometimes it doesn't. The look is completed by red, swollen itchy eyes that nothing seems to soothe. Oh, and I now seem to be slightly allergic to my own tears, which if course, are prolific during ragweed season. Not tears from crying (not yet anyway) but just general seepage, so I end up looking like this! (This is actually from another post, but the end result is the same.)

And of course, since I have red, swollen itchy eyes, my social calendar is fuller than it's been the entire year. Friday night Bruce Springstein at Wrigley Field (Chicago's baseball place), something else that I've forgotten on Saturday, block party on Sunday, Ball & Chain's work dinner next week, a thousand and one school meetings, etc. etc. 

I'm thinking a bloody great burkha might do the trick, although that would possibly just draw attention to the problem even more. Sigh.