Saturday, April 3, 2010

Apology for Intermittent Blogging

What an incredibly beautiful day! Dry, 70° sun, shining down on a sea of green, speckled with white, pink, blue, red, purple, and yellow buds and flowers. The landscape is stunning - a veritable kaleidoscope of pollen. Take it in, but try not to inhale if you have allergies.

El Nino brought heavy rains, timed to maximize pollination. The winter storms returned the Sierras to a normal snowpack, good for all of us, especially for ski slopes and also some farmers in the Central Valley, recipients of extra water rights as their two Democratic Representatives voted for health care.

Trees normally start pollinating in January out here on the coastal rim of the great Southwest desert. This year though they have been gushers since early March, hitting record levels. The end is not yet in sight, and the grasses have barely just begun. The pollen is relentless.

This year is different than the normal seasons, the Connecticut River Valley and the yellow rain, and the flat farm lands of Ohio with the winds blowing across the vast plains. This is different than the short term Santa Anas, wildfires, and infections.

Please don't tell me it's global warming.

And I am surviving on a steady regime of albuterol, Advair, and prednisone.

We learn to live with our chronic conditions. That is part of the human spirit.

I have known many colleagues, assistants, and students who suffer from addictions, allergies, arthritis, asthma, cancer, cardiac conditions, chronic fatigue syndrome, crone’s disease, diabetes, depression, eating disorders, epilepsy, high cholesterol, hypertension, pain, rheumatic fever, thyroid deficiencies, and are on dialysis. I feel for all of them, especially the students and other young adults. They’re too young.

I intend to resume tomorrow. Easter is always a time of renewal.

No comments: