Posts Tagged ‘allergies’

The Great Pumpkin Hunt

Sorry for the late update; it’s November again and you know what that means. But more about that later.

Last weekend was Halloween! I was pretty excited because I love carving pumpkins. My favorite part is scraping out the insides, but I also like roasting pumpkin seeds and finishing lightyears ahead of Steven because he is artistic and I like to stick with things I know won’t look like a stabby four-year-old got a hold of them.

Until Saturday, I hardly had time to think about it being Halloween, I was so busy with school and work and things. Also, it was so hot outside I kept forgetting it was October. But then it was Saturday, time to finally buy a pumpkin and carve it!

The only problem was, there were no pumpkins left in all of Carrboro. I’m not joking. There were gigantic bins of pumpkins outside Harris Teeter all month but they were suddenly gone on October 30th. I went to two Harris Teeters, the Whole Foods, and the Boy scouts in front of that church on Estes, all of which had happy rows of pumpkins before, all empty the day before Halloween. Is it really required that you buy your pumpkin a week in advance? I was not aware of this rule. People sell Christmas trees up till Christmas eve! And fireworks the day of July 4th! If special Halloween candy was still mad overpriced at Harris Teeter the day before Halloween, pumpkins should have been too. Alas.

So, I gave up. This year would be the year I did not carve a pumpkin. Sadness.

Then on Sunday I woke up with renewed energy for the wild pumpkin chase. So what if I would get approximately no school work done this weekend? Some things are important, and carving pumpkins is one of them. After returning from another abortive grocery store trip, I happened to notice a woman in a parking lot with a truck and some pumpkins spread out on the ground. Success!!! Kind of sketchy success!!!

She also had three less than a month old kittens in a bird cage. Scientific discovery of the day: they were the most adorable thing ever. I’m almost positive I’ve never seen a kitten in real life before, not one that young and that cute. It’s probably because I’m moderately to deathly allergic to them, so my parents pretty much put a moratorium on me going anywhere near cats from a young age. I was okay with this, because the few I accidentally encountered at friends’ houses were pretty mean. I did not really get the deal with having a pet that seemed to either ignore or hate you. I have half of humanity for that. Also, I associate them with itchy eyes, not being able to breathe, and hives. So, you know, there’s that.

ANYWAY, these kittens were ADORABLE. They were making this pathetic little mewing noise like “Why are we in a cage? Why are we so cute? Take us home with you!” The woman selling the pumpkins was like “Do you want a free kitten?” And I said, “No, I’m allergic” but while looking longingly at them, so she made me hold one. Second, lesser scientific discovery of the day: kittens are the softest things EVER. They were some kind of Siamese/lynx mix, so they were gray and white and kind of stripey. The one she handed me tried to crawl up my sweater. But then all the places its claws touched my skin became all red and raised like mosquito bites that still haven’t fully gone away, so in the end, I think not taking home the adorable creature of death was a good decision.

Still, just so you know, kittens are way cute. Still not big on cats.

Then we carved pumpkins! As usual, I was done in record time! Mostly because mine always involve only carving five or six shapes. This year I decided to make use of some skewers we had left over from the dip party to give mine hair/a strange hat. It’s unclear which: Read the rest of this entry »

I am miraculously cured and kind of miss JerBear

It sometimes feels like I have spent my entire life suffering from allergies. I’ve learned to live with it as best I can, knowing that I can’t visit my grandparents in the country without either taking so much medication that I get woozy or being unable to breathe. Cats are the main offenders and, like the slightly sinister, prescient beings they are, they naturally gravitate towards me because of this. But even if I avoid them like graduate students fleeing a hornet-infested classroom (funny story…), I still have to contend with all of this nature that seems to have sprung up everywhere.

At least, until now.

The trees here are greeting the return of warm weather by bathing us all in smoky clouds of yellow. I washed Trixie yesterday afternoon and when I went out to get the mail just after dinner it already looked like she had had some kind of run in with the car version of Goldfinger. Everyone in my classes is hacking and sniffling. And yet, I am fine. I at first assumed that I had died without noticing.

Then the girl sitting next to me told me that the best way to fight allergies is to eat the local honey, since it has been made with that same pollen. Like a tasty, tasty vaccination. It occurs to me that I have been eating extremely local honey bought at the farmer’s market for months now. Could my allergies finally have been cured from homeopathic, hippie folk wisdom?? Has my interest in farmer’s markets from my Literature and the Environment class at far off Rice actually saved my life? I assumed so.

Then I called my parents and they were all like “Allergies take a while to kick in, wait till next year and you’ll feel like you’re DYING”. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Whatever, in the face of logic, I am going to embrace my smelly, hippie brethren and believe that they know what they’re talking about. You can tell how long it’s been since I’ve seen Jeremy Caves, the force of his good-natured, Parmesan-loving, eco-pushing personality is starting to wear off. I don’t think I’m prepared to punch someone for not recycling anymore as JerBear so often recommended. You’ll notice that JerBear has his own tag on my blog, though he would probably be too busy contesting this nickname to feel honored. Brian Reinhart is the only other person to have won this achievement (through his treachery).

Misguided Travel Guides: Turkey Creek

Unfortunately, our stay in Tennessee is not as well documented as other parts of our trip because of Steven’s constant fear for his camera. With good reason since I don’t think it’s water-proof, falling-on-rocks-proof, or bug-proof. It’s okay with me since I’ve been here more times than I can count, my memories almost always tinged with a Benadryl-induced haze since I am allergic to everything in nature. And that’s pretty much all that’s here. No cellphone reception unless you climb atop the nearest ridge, fifteen or twenty miles to the nearest store, such as it is, and at least two or three miles to the nearest neighbor’s house. Also, since it’s summer, walking across the yard will get you at least two or three ticks. Yeah, fun. My dad owns about 200 acres of overgrown, hilly land here and his entire family lives on various other tracts of land nearby.

Main Turkey Creek Things to Do In The Summer

(As remembered from my Childhood)

1. Hike through woods
2. Cut grapevines to make swings
3. Play in the creek
4. Catch lightning bugs and put them in a jar
5. Look at stars
6. Eat way too much fried food

And that’s pretty much what we’ve done, minus the grapevine swings. Surprisingly, there are also some sites of historical note relatively nearby (for which Steven did bring his camera):
Read the rest of this entry »

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