A week ago it was rainy and dreary, this week it’s hot and somewhat miserable. If I don’t leave the house, the heat doesn’t really bother me, because it’s always cold inside.
Well, the unusually warm weather has triggered all sorts of terrific allergies to deal with. I didn’t think to pop an allergy pill prior to my hike in San Mateo today because it was cold indoors when I left, so I assumed it was a cold day out. Then again, it was 8:30 am. As it began to warm up the world decided to release all allergens and attack me in the oddest ways.
1) My thighs started feeling a bit like burning while we were about a mile into the hike. I just figured, “Oh, they’re just my normal, randomly recurring hives.” But then I didn’t feel any bumps come up, and the hives weren’t in their normal spot, so I rolled up my pant legs and tried to see if there were any other bumps, like bug bites that had swelled from my scratching. Nothing. Then the itching became intense and very difficult to ignore, so for the next couple of miles, I would have to interrupt the hike (it was more of a stroll) to stop, pull up my pants, and scratch myself like crazy in front of everyone on the trail. It kept feeling like the itching was traveling up, and sure enough, it started itching around my waist. It may have been the detergent, but I’ll never know because once we started heading back, the itching went away.
2) At Caren’s place, my nose started to itch incessantly. That’s one of the more aggravating feelings in the world. Because it causes me to rub my nose like crazy, repeatedly, and nothing takes away the itch. It’s not internal, it’s external, and it’s maddening, and probably quite disgusting to watch. After a bit of that, my eyes started to itch too. I didn’t have a headache, so I don’t know if it was a fragrance, or if Caren was really harboring a basket of cats somewhere nearby. For over an hour I rubbed my nose in an OCD fashion, and really wished I had taken an allergy pill.
3) Pretty much right after I left Caren’s place, my nose stopped itching, so I assume something at her place was the irritant. Maybe she’s responsible for the thigh itch too – but I don’t want to think about that. So, I was in the clear, but still pretty miserable because it was hot as hell in my car, and hot as hell outside. When I got to Gina’s house to help her move, she flapped her blanket in the air to dust it, and delightfully released fur and feathers into the air. I think there were feathers, unless her dog started growing goose-like tufts as well as its coarse, China fur. Gina immediately realized the error but it was too late. The rest of my time there was spent sneezing and sniffling and REALLY wishing I had allergy pills on me.
Now, I wonder if I should take my doctor’s advice and continuously pop allergy pills, or if I should just suffer so I can have an excuse to blog really uninteresting blogs.

