“The sky was yellow, and the sun was blue”“Scarlet Begonias,” Written by Robert Hunter, performed by the Grateful Dead. 

If you are like me, you have been wearing a mask for about a year now. You have been washing your hands or applying hand sanitizer a couple times an hour and going to the grocery store has been a race against time, getting in and out in under 20 minutes. Wait, did you forget the toilet paper? You also haven’t been around groups of people, stayed six feet apart, even outside, and got your flu shot as per the CDC recommendations.

But then it happened! You sneezed, followed by another sneeze, and panic struck. You haven’t had a cold in a year or more and honestly you don’t know anyone who had the flu this season. Did the mask and social distancing work, protecting us from COVID-19, and catching a cold, and getting the flu? I believe it did. But why are we sneezing? “The sky was yellow, and the sun was blue”! Aha, now you remember! It’s pollen season. That lovely yellow/green pine pollen has exploded in dramatic fashion as it does every year, but this year it seems heavier, and it may be. As we all know from living in NC this happens every year around this time but experts are telling us that pine pollen and tree pollen in general has been affected by climate change. The season will be harder on those that suffer and longer. 

The yellow/green stuff that gets all over everything may be irritating your eyes and giving you an itchy throat, but that is not what is making you sneeze. It is likely the Oak, Walnut and Hickory trees. What is pollen anyway? Pollen is the male part of a plant’s life. Male pine cones hang out on the lower ends of a branch and contain sacks which produce and house the pollen. As the male cones mature, the pollen grains become larger until just the perfect sunny, windy and low humidity day, usually the end of March for our region, make them explode into the air as they split open. This is part of the life cycle of the pine tree, yes this yellow/green stuff is needed to make more pine trees. Pine pollen season can last a few weeks, usually gone by the end of April, but by then allergy season is in full swing.

Hum! Can wearing a mask help those that suffer with seasonal allergies? Probably. Pollen grains are small, you can’t see them, but the mask can filter small particles making it more difficult to enter your system. You still need to protect your eyes by wearing sunglasses and we all know that makes you look pretty cool. So keep wearing your mask when you can not be 6 feet apart and always inside, even if you have been fully vaccinated. We are far from herd immunity and the COVID variants continue to spread. Keep washing your hands and applying sanitizer, and stay out of crowded spaces that feel unsafe. If you are sneezing like I am, and just like my personality I have a big window shaking sneeze, It’s Just Allergies. Ah-Ah-Ah-Chooo! 

 


Penny and her family moved to Chapel Hill in 1998. She soon joined the Town of Chapel Hill’s Telecommunications and Technology advisory board and was appointed by the town to the OWASA board of directors where she served 6 years and held the Vice Chair position. In 2009 she ran and was elected to the town council in Chapel Hill, and in 2012 ran and was elected to the BOCC where she served 8 years, the last two as chair of the board. Penny owns and operates a personal chef and catering company and has been published in Cary Magazine, Gourmet Magazine, INDY Week, Southern Neighbor and News14. She lives in Carrboro with her mom Jersey Jacky. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram


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