Pollen Storms poem

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From Denny: It's been a tough three weeks with all the pollen in the air around here. The worst was the tiniest pollen you couldn't see but managed to infiltrate your brain like some Nature terrorist, smother your entire body and color your car and your life entirely yellow. :) It was slowing me down so much that this week's Libations Friday poem did not get out in time. In fact I actually wrote this poem a week later to plug back in here for this segment.

What's even more funny? As I was running this poem by my husband a few minutes ago for a critical ear, he had the back door open and in drifted - and floated lazily upon the warm air - all that dandelion fuzz as if to say, "You called us? We're available!" I think pollen "treats" are the new yard cats...

To keep your sense of humor during the pollen onslaught this season, read on... :)











Pollen Storms


Thinking about those Winds of Change,
Watching them swirl furiously in the air,
Pink and yellow stinging blizzards:

Beauty.







Everything was in the wind:
Drifting cherry blossom petals,
Dropping white dogwoods to flutter:

Seductively.








Those Winds of Change scratch our skin
They tear up our eyes, stinging, itching,
The pollen blizzards swing around corners:

Assailing.







Nature is on the move this Spring.
The glaciers melted rapidly, warming the earth,
The plants ramped up pollen production:

Gleefully.







Overwhelmed temporarily,
The Winds of Change will calm,
Washing Rain will drench the land:

Bliss.










Denny Lyon
Copyright 16 April 2010
All Rights Reserved


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Photo Credits


California wind surfing by kevincole @ flickr

Dandelion fuzz furball by Martino! @ flickr

Cherry blossoms by t_a_i_s @ flickr

I Heart Pollen by brookenovak @ flickr

Dogwood blooming by hlkljgk @ flickr

Afternoon rain by Sids1 @ flickr

Singing in the Rain by 1Happysnapper (photography) @ flickr

Spring storm in Buenos Aires by Irargerich @ flickr


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The Funny Side of Allergy Season - Ahh, Choo!

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I love pollen by brookenovak @ flickr


From Denny: Check out these just wonderful science facts about pollen from Science Daily:


* Under human-induced climate change we expect higher wind speeds and more frequent storms will move pollen and seeds even farther from the source.

* The older a tree gets, the more pollen it produces each year.

* Long-distance dispersal of transgenic pine pollen is a potential problem only if that pollen is viable.

* Until then, the highest pine pollen had ever been found in the atmosphere was 1000 feet

* The odd thing is that pollen germination did not decline as distance increased ... You would expect germination to gradually drop off as pollen floats further away, but that's not the case.

* Pine pollen can travel up to 1800 miles in a short amount of time.


OK, everyone, do you get the idea that the plant world just might be mad at humanity and this is their revenge? As it was I ran across a study of growing hay fever plants in a carbon dioxide rich environment that caused the plants to produce 61% more pollen. Supposedly, we cannot blame the sooty air all on car emissions as apparently plants and trees make up 80% of the pollution.

So, this is what humanity can expect, just in time for the 2012 predictions of the end of the world as we know it: Climate change is causing faster winds and more storms to blow pollen our way from the ends of the earth that we have never experienced. Trees on this planet are arriving in old age so they are having a last fling at reproducing themselves with the ladies so they are sending out Viagra moments at an alarming rate. Pine pollen is like a blood hound; it likes to travel ridiculously long distances and arrive on your doorstep.


Quote

* I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness. - James Thurber


*** For the full post with many more funny quotes, a funny allergy season customer service tech support joke and lots of entertaining photos - and your very own special link to a pollen count in your area - hike on over to The Social Poets for Cheeky Quote Day:

Funny Allergy Quotes - Cheeky Quote Day 7 Apr 2010


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