I’ve come to have a real appreciation for pollen since moving to Virginia.  Or perhaps more of a grudging respect.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the beautiful trees and flowers and plants we have here.  We live in the woods and I couldn’t be happier.  But I had no idea that pollen is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Right around the beginning of summer – that time when you’re stretching your pale arms and legs and rummaging through your wardrobe to find shorts and t-shirts – you begin to notice a change.  When it rains, streams of green-yellow water run down the street to the storm drains.  A fine, yellow haze settles on your car windshield if it’s parked outside.  You head to the porch to take in the sounds of summer, and notice that your outdoor furniture is awfully dusty.

Yeah, that’s not dust.  It’s pollen.

Lots and lots of pollen.

As I sit and type this, I’m enjoying the sunshine and birdsong and the view from my window.  All trees and greenery.  I’m also noticing the pollen coating the grill and porch railing, and it makes me grimace.

Chris has problems with allergies.  He bucks up under the onslaught each summer and (mostly) maintains a certain level of homeostasis by supplementing his usual daily vitamin with a dose or two of Singulair, occasional migraine meds, and a decent supply of tissues.  Thus far, Joe doesn’t seem to be bothered by allergies.  I’ve never had a problem with them, either (and I hope that doesn’t change – I know that it can).

Jack’s another story.  With his bouts of RSV, he’s already prone to asthma.  And this week, the faint wheeze started.  Not audible unless you’re using a stethoscope (another benefit of being a nurse: ready supply of those in this house), but certainly pronounced whenever he’s crying.  Sigh.  Guess we’ll need to see the nurse practitioner and get him started on something.

He’ll join the many other Virginians that learn to live with pollen’s unpleasant side effects.

Pollen.  Scourge of clean cars everywhere in VA.  An indelible part of the ecosystem and, for as much trouble as it can cause with my family’s lungs, something for which I’m thankful.  I can’t say how much peace I get when I look out of our house windows and I see leaves and flowers and GREEN.  I love that, for a big chunk of my commute and drive to daycare, I see woods and grass, not steel and chrome.  I’m thankful that we live in a place where our biggest hassle with air quality is pollen, not pollution.  I can deal with that.