Green Like Pollen

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Are you wearing green? Daisy has been obsessing over who is ok to pinch, and Chris and I are excited to check out local music hotspot Eddie's Attic to celebrate with an Irish band. However, this "Green" post has nothing to do with the Luck o' the Irish.

Until now, I didn't really know what pollen looked like. I would have drawn it as yellow, sitting placidly inside a flower. I believed in it like I believe in germs. 

Until now, I didn't think I suffered from seasonal allergies.

Until now, I was ecstatic about opening up my windows on breezy spring days.

Something is different about Georgian pollen: it's green, it's mean, and it's everywhere:

Back of my car this morning

I finally decided that the constant sneezing, bleary eyes, achy head and drippy nose was completely debilitating, so I brought home my first box of Claritin yesterday. Nothing really got that much better from my 24 hour tablet, so I didn't take another one this morning. Some friends mentioned that you have to get it "in your system," and that some people start taking meds daily beginning in February to get ready for the season!

This is not what I signed up for, but I'm not sure if I have a choice! Many people seem to get intense allergies once they move here. Meanwhile, I will definitely investigate all sorts of homeopathic remedies before deciding to jump into daily medication. Any advice?