… with runny nose and gravelly voice. Yes, I am afflicted by spring allergies. Many possible contributors, but an obvious trigger is the stand of star jasmine blooming so beautifully, and smelling so sweetly, right by the mailboxes in the condo complex’s parking area.
I fell into a 2-hour nap yesterday afternoon and then slept 9 hours last night, but have still been yawning all day today, despite some application of very dark coffee (which I drink straight and cold; I like bitter, respect my trip). Nevertheless, with my helper J I’ve been laboring mightily on housework from 5 am on: fresh sheets! laundered towels and clothing! everything neat and clean! garden plants watered!
Meanwhile, it’s now warm enough that I have moved to tank tops — today, a bright blue one with a rainbow over my heart, so I feel jaunty, even if I do use a hell of a lot of Kleenex.
Now, about star jasmine, a climbing vine, groundcover, or low shrub with glossy green leaves (not frost-hardy, so in the US restricted to the Deep South states and the California coast); from my 5/4/15 posting “Good and evil: Star Jasmine”:
It’s all over the place here. In my neighbors’ gardens, along the street, everywhere. Visitors to California are enchanted by its [intoxicating] scent.
That’s the good side,
Then, talking with a friend about our recent breathing problems … I looked the plant up and discovered that its pollen is a major allergen. That’s the evil side.
Demons spewing tiny grains of pollen abound here.