When I was younger, it seemed that I always caught a cold in the Spring. I attributed it to the unstable weather—one day hot and sunny, the next cold and rainy. But it finally dawned on me that it wasn’t the changing weather that made me sneeze. It was the tree pollen whirling through the air in April. Once I’d figured that out, I treated my “spring cold” like any other allergy with antihistamines and a neti pot. Also, I tried to shut the windows and stay indoors. But I got lucky this year with a killjoy frost, because it helps allergies by killing the pollen. This only happens when you have a hard freeze below 20 degrees after the trees have begun pollenating.
The last week in March, we had temperatures in the seventies, and all the pretty flowering trees began to bloom. Then, a cold spell swept in, with below freezing temperatures turning all the blossoms brown. I know it’s ugly, and I shouldn’t be glad. But I am, because I’ve gotten a break from all the allergic reactions.
Tree pollen is finer than other pollens, and the wind can carry it for miles. These light, dry grains get into your sinuses, lungs and eyes. This year we’ve had winds up to 60 miles per hour.
In the fall, most allergy sufferers pray for a hard frost to kill the dreaded ragweed pollen. Even those who aren’t allergic don’t mind when a killing frost finally comes—anywhere from October through November. By then, with all the brilliant colored leaves to enjoy, no one is too upset when the frost kills our petunias and begonias. We were tired of watering them, anyway.
But a killjoy frost isn’t a welcome event. Often, the magnolias and crabapple trees don’t start blooming until April. Then, we have a spectacular spring show in our city. with miles of blossoming trees lining the streets everywhere. But, about every four years, a killjoy frost sweeps in and burns all those pretty blossoms.. I know it ruins the magnolias, but it’s a gift to those of us with allergies.
