We Have the Green Plague

This time of year, it’s impossible to keep your car, patio, windows, porch, sidewalk, or any other surface clean. It’s the Green Plague. When the oak trees start to bloom, they release enough pollen to blanket three or four planets this size. And it goes on for just WEEKS.

Saturday night, I asked my sons to hose off the car (which is supposed to be silver, but was rapidly turning lime green), which they were very happy to do. They love to play in the hose, and it was 85 degrees, so perfect for hosing off the car and each other. They did a great job and there was an astoundingly large puddle of yellow-scummed water in the low spot of the driveway when they finished.

The next morning, they came out to the car with me, and stopped, stock still, in the middle of the driveway, staring at the green-again car. My older son turned to me with teary eyes and said, “It’s not fair, Mom! We worked so hard to get it clean….” Of course I grabbed him and hugged him, reassuring him that they had done a fabulous job, but that the trees were obviously very busy in the night.

And I have to wear a mask when I come to the office on Mondays during the Green Plague. The “elves” who clean the parking lot and weed the flower beds come on Mondays from 7:45 to 8:15. And the storm of pollen that they raise with their blowers is appalling. If I breathed it, I’d be in hospital for a week. It’s like a sand-storm of pollen. And it also coats the cars with a layer of the nasty green film.

I’ll be glad when the green plague is over.

Tags: allergies, child-rearing, children, Family Life, medical issues