In North Carolina, there is a fifth season. It is the shortest of all seasons, but it has
significant impact on each and every person within the central and eastern
regions in particular.
This, is pollen season.
Pine pollen, to be precise. And
it’s happening right now.
The first time I experienced it was right after I moved to
NC (10 YEARS AGO!). I was just staring
out a window at the office and noticed that the air seemed…thick. Translucent, even. As though there was a pall of smoke drifting,
perhaps a small forest fire was happening, but no, this was different. And why was my car green at the end of the
day rather than its usual white? That
was pollen, all pollen. Amazing.
Today, as I was driving in to work, I saw an AMAZING
manifestation of just how hot for it the pine trees are right now. The tree circled in the below pic was the
hottest of them all, for as I passed it a puff of wind caught its branches and
a thick CLOUD of pollen was released into the wild. It was really very impressive, and I’m sure
the sticky tips of all nearby cones are ripening with new life even as I type
this. Just that one outburst alone could
likely have populated hundreds of acres of pines if it had been more precisely
applied!
Nature is messy.
I now regret leaving the house windows open this
morning.
---
We finally waved the green flag at a foundation company to
come shore up the underpinnings of our saggy ol’ house. Apparently, foundation business is really
great right now, as the earliest they could get us on the schedule is 11 May.
One more month of fun-house bouncy floors! Whee!!
---
I think that because I came in late today I should leave
early, don’t you? There are bad storms
coming into the area and I’d like to be home before they start. A man was killed last night when a storm
front came through. He was struck by
lightning in the parking lot of a Michael’s craft store and died later at the hospital. Scary stuff.
Nobody ever really expects to get struck by lightning and killed, you
know?
Also what nobody really expects, but I saw yesterday: a car wreck that tore the front off one car
and completely bashed in the side of another, in a WALMART PARKING LOT.
Parking. Lot.
How recklessly do you have to drive to get into THAT kind of
an accident in a PARKING LOT?
So yes, two things to not expect, both of which can kill you
nearly dead (or, all the way, as the unfortunate young man at Michael’s discovered
(or didn’t, depending on his state of consciousness.)). PLENTY of reason for me to go home and hunker
down with some HP Lovecraft, wouldn’t you agree?
Tiff out.
2 comments:
Two very good reasons why we ought to tell people we love them every single day, since we don't know if it might be our last.
Pollen is really bad today, and the air was think with it last night. I think the rain help[ed a bit.
Hmmm... pollen. I guess we are surrounded by nature porn all the time if we just look for it.
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