Category: Atlanta

April 23 – cars and commuting

cars and commuting
perfect match, improved means to
an unimproved end

I have no doubt that Mr. Thoreau would take one look at a freeway system and throw up.

WALDEN and ON HE DUTY OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
by Henry David Thoreau

As with our colleges, so with a hundred “modern improvements”; there is an illusion about them; there is not always a positive advance. The devil goes on exacting compound interest to the last for his early share and numerous succeeding investments in them. Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at; as railroads lead to Boston or New York. We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate. Either is in such a predicament as the man who was earnest to be introduced to a distinguished deaf woman, but when he was presented, and one end of her ear trumpet was put into his hand, had nothing to say. As if the main object were to talk fast and not to talk sensibly. We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the old world some weeks nearer to the new; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad, flapping American ear will be that the Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough. After all, the man whose horse trots a mile in a minute does not carry the most important messages; he is not an evangelist, nor does he come round eating locusts and wild honey. I doubt if Flying Childers ever carried a peck of corn to mill.

4.5.2019 – Stomach Flu

Winter Vomiting,

Stomach Flu, my Grand Daughter says,

Spilled my stomach.

Wrapping up a bad head cold, record pollen, headache and something like the stomach flu hits.

What a way to end vacation. Haven’t had it like this in years.

Brits call it ‘Winter Vomiting’ which maybe too close to reality.

Still remembering how my grand daughter, Azaria, describes it, made me laugh.

March 28 – Pollen

Pollen in the air,
in my head, nose, tongue, throat, lungs.
High price of spring time.

This is the roof the building across the parking lot from WXIA TV.

See the green/yellow pine pollen drying in the rain puddles. It covers the roads, the cars and my glasses.

A single tree can release 40 oz. of pollen.

University of Georgia says “Pine pollen comes from the male cones at the end of lower branches. Relative humidity, wind, moisture and health of the male cone all make a difference. Dry, warm, sunny days open the cone and spread the pollen. Warm weather out of Florida passes over any one spot in Georgia for about two and a half weeks.”

The US Forestry Service says: “The date of peak pollen shed depends on the accumulation of 636 degree-day units above 55° F after February 1.” I cannot express how much this data helps me.

On warm, dry, windy days you can see yellow clouds of pine pollen billowing across the landscape. Two side wings hold these big pollen grains aloft. These wings also make pine pollen big enough to see.

As the wind blows, it sweeps pollen up into the air and carries it long distances. Pine pollen has its unique shape to perfectly match the aerodynamic shape of the female pine cone. The airborne pollen grains are swirled around the cone and tumble into the receptive base of each bract.

Because pine pollen is so big, we can see it is light yellow. Many windblown tree pollens are invisible.

The male pine cones, which dangle at the ends of lower branches, have many pollen sacks which produce and hold pollen. As the male cones mature, they nurture the pollen grains. Then on sunny, windy days with relatively low humidity, the pollen sacks split open.

The first place most people notice pine pollen is on their car. Smooth metal surfaces will sport a gritty, yellow dust. It accumulates in miniature drifts on pavements, patios and porches, too.

This yellow dust can be breathed into your nose and mouth. Few people, though, are actually allergic to the pine pollen. But many find it irritating in their eyes and aggravating on their cars and patios.

Taken from Don’t Blame Pine Trees for Springtime Sneezes By Kim D. Coder for CAES News (http://newswire.caes.uga.edu/story.html?storyid=6) AND Pine Pollen – Predicting BY Walter Reeves / The Simple Gardener (http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/pine-pollen-predicting/)

3.16.2019 – Evidence of Drainage …

My throat, Doctor saw …
Evidence of Drainage there …
Pollen! My poor head!

Never had any allergies or problems with the seasons until we moved to Georgia. Now the spring time pine pollen season has to endured as much as any winter snow time was up north.

I can handle the sore throats, the cough drops, the flonase (that alters the taste of food), the headache, the thick headedness feelings, but when my teeth start to hurt, its almost too much.