Pollen Central

It's official! It's time again for the annual saturation of the air with millions of grains of pollen. And, believe me, it is not being timid at all this year! It seems that April 1 opened the floodgates and over the weekend, the air really filled with the tiny packets of sperm and covered every open surface whether inside a "closed" car, the sidewalks, or your nostrils.

We cough it. We hack it. We snort it. Everywhere you turn you see and feel them as they waft through the air like billowy, yellow clouds. Anyone that took notice of their surroundings knew it was coming because the male pine cones have been very visible for several days now. It was only a matter of time before they threw caution to the wind and released their half of the next generation into the warm breezes. The timing was spot-on with this unseasonably warm temperatures, breezy conditions, and no recent rain. A perfect combination for a liberal dusting of yellow.

Now many people are suffering from allergies and are looking for the most likely culprit. Since pine pollen is very visible, the blame always falls on it. Sorry! But it's not the cause of the allergies. The pollen is too big to cause an allergic reaction. The only sneezing caused by pine pollen is a normal reaction to an irritant to the nasal lining. The real allergic reactors are oak, hickory, and other hardwoods.

To those people who complain, complain, complain about the pollen, I say buck it up! Soon the male cones and catkins will spew the last of their kind into the air for this year and the rain will come to wash the rest away. Let the trees and other plants have their fun. After all, they only get to make love once a year!!