When the trees begin to pollinate, my body rebels. I am extremely, terribly, awfully, horribly allergic to tree pollen. I used to be so angry about this particular reality, and justifiably so when you consider that, from late April through May, DC is at its most beautiful. It's warm but not hot, the air is soft but not muggy, and there are no bugs yet except butterflies and bees. All the trees have the freshest green leaves, every plant is tender and colorful. It's breathtaking. For me, it's literally breathtaking.
During the last couple of years, I've become far more philosophical about it. This morning I was thinking that my allergic reaction to the mating dance of the trees and grasses is a perfect constitutional description of whatever it is that made me so bad at Paganism. I was better at the high priestess thing, i.e. standing in the center of the circle being high and mighty, than I ever was at the regular Pagan thing - like dancing around the campfire naked. I never did that, not ever. Frolicking in the woods at Beltaine? No way. "Polyamory" as Pagans call it? NO! I liked the metaphorical sexuality of the Maypole for instance, but the free and open literal sexuality of Paganism was too free and too open for me.
So is it any wonder that, right now as the trees and grasses begin pouring the green dust all over the landscape, I'm about to become hypersensitive? It all makes sense, it does.
Happy Earth Day to all. Hey you trees and grasses - have a wild and unfettered orgy, by all means! But could you leave me out of it? Inter-species sex is always gross! Thanks, ya'll!
30 comments:
Yes the "green dust" can make one sick & irritable... but your photos are a balm to the discomfort. Beautiful slide show! Happy Earth Day!
I stick to the metaphorical freedoms myself. lol
It is so beautiful there, I love the pictures.
ah yes, a high priestess after my own heart
the thing i love about wicca is that i can do all those things SYMBOLICALLY, without the mess and mayhem my naked bod would incur !!!
blessed be dear one- my poor hubby and daughter both suffer terribly with the spring snuffles xx
I'm laughing at the ' inter-species sex' part - although the allergy part is NOT funny.
I went through approximately ten years of misery with pollen. Then - whoosh - gone, nothing except an occasional sneeze when I'm stressed. Why it stopped, I don't know. All I can say is: I wish you the same relief.
As for the naked orgies in the woods, I can see how those could easily be
a) terribly unconfortable in cases of unforeseen poison oak and/or ivy, ants and other uninvited lifeforms
b) fairly ludicrous in the majority of cases and
c) downright absurd in the remaining instances I can think of. (Movies don't have lighting and makeup crews for nothing.)
Hope the allergies taper off, Reya.
I don't judge those who are liberated enough to frolic in the woods etc. I used to feel slightly envious, as in "why am I so self conscious?"
It's just not for me.
I hear ya! (((wheeze-cough-itch-drip)))
Spectacular slide show!
Happy Earth Day.
I sympathize about the allergies. I used to be terribly allergic to trees and grasses as a kid growing up. Didn't stop me from wandering the woods, just stopped me from breathing. I outgrew them around 20. Either that or all those allergy shots my parents made me get had some effect in the long run.
Beautiful pictures. I had to laugh about the dancing naked. I've been known to toss the clothes once in awhile out in nature.
I pretty much try to ignore my allergies...leaves and grass and pollen and everything give me fits...one or two tiny magical pills a day keep me alive to enjoy the slendor...a few snuffles and itchies are the price for living in this beautiful world. Happy Earth day!
Tom I didn't mean to complain. I was trying to be funny. Oh well.
Have you ever tried the local honey remedy? They say if you have a tablespoon of LOCAL honey every day, you are ingesting the pollens in it as well and your body comes to think of those local pollens as nourishment, so eventually the allergic reaction stops. Some people swear by this, I don't know as I don't have allergies. But I often hear of it.
Joanne, I've tried every remedy you can imagine including folk remedies, herbal remedies, homeopathics, Chinese herbs and acupuncture, muscle testing and fasting, and hypnotic suggestion.
I take Claritin every day and see the acupuncturist every week during the season. It takes the edge off. Nothing takes away "allergy head" - that feeling that my brain is soggy and heavy and that I can't think.
Thanks, though! I appreciate it.
We watched The Day of the Triphods(sp?) this weekend where the spores shower down out of the universe and turn into plants which first blind the humans and then devour them--some of the 50's special effects were wonderful.
And I kept thinking about you and the green dust.
Love and more love!
feel better & Happy Earth Day!
:::blowing nose:::: What?
I'm with you. I am not a publicly nude frolicker!
Bless you! And Happy Earth Day to you and to the trees and flowers and birds and beasts as well.
Happy Day Earth! Sorry about the cross pollenation. Did you know if you bury that tissue that you wiped with, right after sneezing from the ragweed, that the resulting bush (called Rag Reya Rag) has beautiful blossoms called CinderReyas. Recently Rag Reya Rags have been spotted on the internet seeking dates (the lovely desert fruit).
Beautiful, spectacular slide show! Love it!
I don't want to frolic in the woods naked but I do skinny dip in my pool. ;)
Sorry you suffer so from allergies to all the beauty surrounding you! :(
The exploding slide show is fabulous, as was your whole digression from pollen to polyamory.
Inhalers work! I'm sure you've tried them. I never had an asthma attack til I lived in Richmond, VA. It took my breath away Spring & Summer. Inhalers gave it back.
Wonderful photo show.
Stumbled into your blog via - I'm not certain whom - but loved your post today. I lived in the DC area, over the line in MD, for two years in the late 60's ..... loved living there. All of the energy, all of the feeling that it's where EVERYTHING happens ....
Happy Earth Day to you.
Not much for naked-woods-frolicking either (at this point the world heaves a sigh of relief) although there was a marvelous winter-solstice sweatlodge with a dozen strangers followed by a flying leap in a freezing lake... Oh, uh, ages ago. But extremely fun.
And the term "polyamory" as it relates to paganism; wasn't that something Isaac Bonewitz popularized? Not a requirement of the ADF, but heck, them Druids can be about as horny as anyone, I reckon. If not more so.
Been busy as hell. I need to catch up on the good thinking & writing here...
Good morning Reya,
I wonder if allergies were prevalent in the caveman days..or are another result of civilisation.
Oh, I just had a horrible vision of Tom Cruise in 'Eyes Wide Open' in the 'polyamory' scene...
some things are best left unseen....
It sounds like spring is "breathtaking" to you in more ways than one. I loved the floral fireworks in your slide show today!
So far homeopathy is working for me.
But we are behind you in the blooming cycle. Great graphic :-)
Reya, your line about inter-species sex is so funny! The pictures are gorgeous and just dynamic enough. Most of us will suffer quite a bit during these pollinating times.
Never had inter-species sex. Have had inter-species love relationships with critters. Never thought about doin' it with spores. Not opposed. Just never thought of it. I had to consider it and laugh when I read Deborah's Triphod post.
Used to be terribly allergic until I did several years of allergy immunization with tiny amounts of allergens being injected subcutaneously in ever increasing dilutions and quantities. Took a while but was fairly holisitc and very successful.
Love the slide show. Can't help wondering what the cherries would have looked like poppin' in that format. The top photo...what is it reflected in?
Happy Earth Day to you, too. Now, confession time. After your page finished downloading on my compputer screen it took a couple of minutes to realise that you image had been cropped! :-)
Many thanks for the beautiful photo.
Greetings from London.
Ronda the top image is just a collage of three pics of a church at Mass Ave. and 10th Street NE. I put the "glass" filter on the image to make it more postcard-like. I do that sometimes when I'm just sittin' around doing nothing special.
Intangible - Isaac Bonewitz, oh yeah. Have you ever met him?
My allergies are better today. Saw the Sufi acupuncturist yesterday. So far in my life acupuncture has worked better than any other treatment.
Onwards & upwards to late spring.
interspecies sex, ha!
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