Texas Has Some Of The Worst Cities For Allergy Sufferers

Yesterday I found myself on Facebook, discussing with a Washingtonian, how I never had allergy woes til I moved to Texas.

Yesterday the pollen was extra insufferable. Hot and windy, blowing the sneeze wheeze makers at great volume at high speed.

Overnight a cold front has arrived, along with a noticeable drop in the airborne irritants. I have not felt the need to take an allergy pill this morning.

Blessed relief.

I saw that which you see above, this morning, on the aforementioned Facebook. I don't know why Austin is not at the top of the worst cities for allergy sufferers. I've known people who moved from Austin to escape the annual onslaught of Mountain Cedar Pollen.

The worst allergy bout I have been through was in Fort Worth several years ago, caused by conditions which blew large amounts of Texas Hill Country Mountain Cedar Pollen north to the DFW zone.

There are Mountain Cedar trees here in Wichita Falls. A couple years ago I was biking through Lake Wichita Park when I saw a Mountain Cedar suddenly release what looked like a fog but was Pollen going airborne due to who knows what sudden stimulus. I had never seen such a thing happen before in person. I had seen videos of such.

I have not yet decided if I am going to venture into the outer world today. Current, at 10 in the morning, it is only 52 degrees outside...

Theo Sleeps Through Tacoma Heat Wave Whilst Uncle Durango's Head Aches

Tacoma's cutest twins, Ruby and Theo, have been going through another bout of the flu, worse, by some accounts, than their Disneyland related flu bout of late January.

Yesterday I learned Theo's condition had morphed into an ear infection.

This morning, when inquiring about Theo's condition, I asked if Theo had been outside enjoying the record breaking heat wave that was in the news due to heating up Western Washington much more than the March norm.

Theo's mama then texted me the photo of Theo you see here, taken on Sunday, when his mama suggested he go outside for some hoped for sunny salubriousness.

Instead Theo's mama, when checking on him shortly thereafter, found Theo sound asleep. Since this was totally not the active Theo norm, mama Kristin was called, and soon Theo was having some urgent care at mama Kristin's Urgent Care facility, where the ear infection was discovered.

Decades ago, when I was in the Theo age frame, I had bad ear infections which I remember as being terribly painful.

A couple days ago I watched the famous All in the Family episode where Edith was overwhelmed trying to take care of sick Archie, Gloria and the Meathead, so she called Aunt Maude to ask for help, with Maude coming to the rescue, making for one of the funniest episodes of that funny series, an episode so talked about that Maude soon had her own spin off series.

I'm thinking if this ongoing series of Tacoma ailments keeps having David, Theo and Ruby sick, and their parental units worn out, that Uncle Durango might need to come to the rescue.

Yeah, I'm sure that would be a big help.

Escaping Texas would certainly help with Uncle Durango's current unhealthy misery. As in the return of allergy woes. I suffered not a bit whilst in Arizona. And never have any sort of allergy woe when I am in Washington. But here in Texas, the last couple years, tree pollen has been a vexing misery. The latest iteration of such has had me awake since about three this morning, with a headache, now abated.

I have had some blogging fodder I wanted to blog about, but I've just not felt up to it. Maybe tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that....

Having A Smoggy Sunday Reaction After Rolling My Wheels On Gateway Park's Mountain Bike Trails

I must have misunderstood the weather forecast for today. I  thought serious storms were a sure thing for this final Sunday of the 4th month of 2014.

Last night I figured this morning's pool bout would have me swimming in the rain. And that I would not be going anywhere hiking or biking today.

I figured wrong.

I had myself a mighty fine rain-free swim this morning,  followed by an equally mighty fine rain-free rolling of my wheels on the Gateway Park mountain bike trails.

No rain, but HOT and humid. Currently the temperature is 86, with that vexing humidity making it really feel like 91.

Of late I have been vexed by some new allergen that makes my eyes itch and burn in a way that reminds me of my first encounter with LA smog when I was a teenager, way back in the last century. Post Gateway Park I'm finding the burning eye sensation to be particularly vexing. Eyes drops help some.

I never had any allergy woes when I lived in Western Washington. Is Mother Nature trying to tell me something?

Reading Cryptic Hieroglyphics On The Martian Surface Of The Tandy Hills With A Lower Cedar Fever

On the left you are looking at the old wagon train trail which heads west to where the west is alleged to have begun, at a trio of the skyscrapers which make up the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

I had had myself such a mighty fine time hill hiking yesterday that I decided to try for might fine time hill hiking part II today.

Turns out this was the right thing to do because I did have myself a mighty fine hill hiking time today.

My primary reason for returning to the hills today was because I wanted to enjoy the outer world in semi-balmy temperature mode before frigidity returns to North Texas tomorrow.

I was not alone hiking the hills today. I had myself an interesting conversation with a lady hill hiker of well-seasoned vintage. We both lamented the allergy woes which are currently causing lament across a wide swath of Texas.

Today the Pollen Predictors had predicted a drastic decrease in the amount of the dreaded Cedar Pollen and its resultant Cedar Fever plaguing this part of the planet. I do seem to be experiencing noticeable improvement in my air intake system.

The lady hill hiker of well-seasoned vintage told me she heard that the return to cold, tomorrow, would also bring with it a fresh increase in pollen allergens.

Today I had a longer bout of hill hiking than is the norm. Over an hour with eight hills climbed at fast speed. Doing this is very aerobic, though I can get a bit winded by the time I reach a hill summit, due to that vexing, aforementioned, allergy woe.

I made a big loop over the Tandy Hills, starting on the summit of Mount Tandy, crossing the Tandy Escarpment past Tandy Falls, then up the trail which leads to the View Street trail and the Fallen Hoodoo.

Just a short distance from the Fallen Hoodoo I came upon the first instance of the white chalk trail markings I mentioned yesterday.

I do not know what the above cryptic hieroglyphics mean. The one on the right points west at a big E. The one on the left points south at a big T.

I went the big E direction and headed west.

I have never noticed it before, but in some of my photos of the Tandy Hills the topography bears a remarkable resemblance to photos the Mars Rover has sent back of the Martian surface, except for the white hieroglyphics.

I don't think I will return to Mars, I mean, the Tandy Hills, tomorrow. I think I will take a cool tour of my neighborhood instead, a neighborhood which does not look like modern day Mars, but which probably looks like Mars looked when it was still in industrial wasteland mode before becoming a planet devoid of living organisms.....

In Fort Worth Learning Why Austin's Cedar Fever Makes Me Sick

I finally have a name for that which has vexed my breathing apparatus this past week.

Cedar Fever.

I learned this via Mrs. Galtex via a posting and link on Facebook.

Mr. and Mrs. Galtex returned to D/FW on Wednesday from one of their frequent Portugal visits.

This is what Mrs. Galtex had to say, in part, about their return to Texas...

"Mr. G is not doing too well right now, as the cedar pollen count was sky high on Wed when we flew back to Texas. He immediately started sneezing and sniffing once we landed at DFW and went outside."

Mr. and Mrs. Galtex moved from Austin to the North Texas zone of Fort Worth to escape the dreaded annual Cedar Fever attack.

The link Mrs. Galtex Facebooked went to Jeffee Palmer's Now and Thenadays blog to a blog post titled  Austin Makes Me Sick!!! which gave me a lot of info I lacked about this Cedar Fever from which I have been suffering.

Below is a blurb from Austin Makes Me Sick!!! Read the blurb then click the link to read the rest of the story about this living hell known as Cedar Fever....

The number one reason not to live in Austin is CEDAR, specifically the pollen that cedar trees produce resulting in the truly abominable cedar fever. “Cedar is juniperus ashei,” allergist Dr. Eric Schultz told a local television reporter recently, “It’s one of the worst allergens, or most potent allergens on the planet. Here in central Texas it’s rampant, especially in Austin.”

You might think I’m talking about a runny nose or some sneezes here and there. Again, you’d be wrong. It’s far beyond that.  For weeks you can be plagued by sore throat, amazing phlegm production, a nose that won’t stop running, watery, itchy eyes, intermittent sneezing attacks, and ultimately a hacking cough. 

A Quick Recovery From Allergic Misery Has Me Heading Towards Fort Worth's Tandy Hills

In the picture you are looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the hot tub where this morning I had myself a mighty fine hydrotherapy session.

Having a myself a mighty fine hydrotherapy session would seem to indicate that I am feeling much better, with my allergic woes no longer making me so woefully miserable.

For today and tomorrow the Pollen Level Predictors had predicted that the Pollen Level would be EXTREME.

However, by early evening, yesterday, I found myself suddenly feeling much less plugged up.

I do not remember such a quick turnaround from a woeful misery since early in the last decade of the last century when for about two weeks I thought I was right on the edge of being a flu fatality, when I woke up one morning to find myself back feeling totally okay.

I remember that flu recovery morning as if it were yesterday. I had not eaten much for two weeks, had lost a lot of weight. The recovery morning I phoned my favorite feeding crew and arranged to drive 30 miles north, to Bellingham, to the Dickinson's Buffet, that being the location of the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had the pleasure of being pleased by.

This latest recovery morning I won't be driving up to Bellingham to a buffet, or anywhere else for a buffet. Although allergic woes do do some appetite stifling, it only lasted for a couple days, not long enough to require a buffet to make up for lost calories.

With this latest temperature drop to barely above freezing I am thinking I would greatly enjoy doing some fast hill hiking on the Tandy Hills today.

So it is written, so will it be.....

I Am Being Allergically Mr. Miserable Today In Texas

I did not have myself a hot tub hydrotherapy session this morning.

An extremely intuitive person might intuit from this minimal amount of information that I am not having myself a mighty fine time today.

That intuitive person's intuition would be correct.

I am being Mr. Miserable today.

Allergically miserable.

I thought a walk in the cool air might make me breathe easier. It did not. It was during this futile walk I walked by the hot tub and snapped  the photo you see above.

My breathing function deteriorated throughout the day, yesterday. By the time of the day when the sun does its daily setting I drove myself to Walmart in search of allergy meds. There were a lot of fellow sufferers seeking relief. We all agreed that whatever it is that is making us miserable had arrived in the past 24 hours.

My most horrific allergic misery occurred in October of 2012. So far, this January of 2014 allergic misery is not being as miserable as the 2012 misery.

My current misery includes a headache, stuffed up nasal tubes, itchy eyes, sneezing, coughing along with an overall grumpiness that is the only part of this misery that I am sort of enjoying.

With A Moderate Ozone Level I Hiked The Tandy Hills With Potentially Noxious Yellow Weeds

Tandy Hills Mutant Scotch Broom

With the ozone level up one stage from 'good' to 'moderate' I risked breathing in moderately adequate air whilst doing some endorphin inducing aerobically stimulating Tandy Hills hill hiking today.

Clouds did some sun blocking, but high humidity still turned the hill hiking into a salubrious steam bath that felt really good.

The Tandy Hills are currently sprouting large patches of yellow flowers on skinny stems that look like a mutant variation of the notorious noxious west coast weed that goes by the name of Scotch Broom.

A lot of people are allergic to Scotch Broom. I did not seem to have any sort of immediate allergic reaction to the Tandy Hills mutant Scotch Broom.

A week ago today I was in total allergic misery, with Friday night, a week ago, being the night I was a sleepless Zombie. What a difference a week makes.

Last Saturday I got myself a dozen Poblano Peppers at Town Talk. Yesterday I wondered if there was such a thing as Poblano Pepper soup. So I Googled "Poblano Pepper Soup Recipe" and found that there are a lot of recipes for making soup with this particular pepper.

So, this morning I made Poblano Pepper Soup. It turned out to be really tasty.

If one looks at a recipe for making a Chile Relleno it is a Poblano Pepper that is the main ingredient. But, when I roast and use a Poblano Pepper it tastes nothing like a Relleno. When I roast a Hatch Chile, then I totally get the Relleno taste.

This Poblano/Relleno conundrum is very perplexing.

Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Spying A Mysterious Stranger

What a difference a week makes. Last Thursday I was falling down an evermore miserable allergic hole, wondering if I was ever going to breathe normal again, not knowing, a week ago, that the next night would be my worst night of allergic misery, ever.

And, now, a week later, I'm breathing free and feeling like my regular fairly healthy self.

Today I drove my regular fairly healthy self to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area to walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt this area. It seems like it's been awhile since I've visited the Village Creek Indian Ghosts.

I was a bit startled, today, when I got to the location you see in the picture above. Usually I walk to this Village Creek overlook to startle the turtles. Today it was I who was startled, startled by a guy on the other side of the creek waving at me.

You would need to click the picture to enlarge it to see the guy on the other side of the creek.

Now, you're thinking, what is the big deal, so what if there was a guy on the other side of the creek. Well, I have no idea how he got there. I know of no trails. It's a thick jungle on that side of Village Creek.

I continued on to the Village Creek Blue Bayou overlook, and then headed back to my vehicle. That waving guy, who startled me, was still in the location where I first saw him, now, hunkered down, digging in the sand bank, with a backpack beside him.

Very mysterious.

I Finally Realized I Have Been Stupidly Exposing My Allergy Prone Self To Texas Ozone Air Pollution

Occasionally I really amaze myself with how cluelessly dumb I can be. Really, it's true. Years ago, if I remember right, someone somewhere told me that they thought me to be really smart. Witty, smart and highly intelligent.

Well.

I know myself better than I know anyone else. I may be a bit witty, at times, but smart and highly intelligent? Not so much.

Example of my clueless dumbness.

For weeks now I have been whining about my allergic woes. I do this whining at the same time I mention going hiking or biking under the noon day sun.

Friday night I basically was unable to sleep, so miserable and clogged up was I from my allergic woes.

The next day, that being yesterday, as in Saturday, a light bulb finally turned on in my dim bulb, oxygen deprived brain.

At the same time that those who monitor such things inform me via various means that the air that I am breathing is polluted, I go out in it at the worst time of the day.

And then wonder why I have allergic woes.

Below is today's AIR QUALITY ALERT from the National Weather Service...

...AIR POLLUTION WATCH LEVEL ORANGE... 

AIR POLLUTION WATCH - LEVEL ORANGE - FOR DALLAS-FORT WORTH.

THE TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (TCEQ) HAS ISSUED A LEVEL ORANGE AIR POLLUTION WATCH FOR THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH AREA FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2012.

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE FAVORABLE FOR PRODUCING HIGH LEVELS OF OZONE AIR POLLUTION IN THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH AREA ON SUNDAY. OZONE LEVELS COULD REACH THE LEVEL ORANGE "UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS" CATEGORY.

ELEVATED CONCENTRATIONS OF OZONE CAN ACT AS A LUNG IRRITANT. INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE, SUCH AS ASTHMA AND EMPHYSEMA, AS WELL AS THE ELDERLY AND YOUNG CHILDREN, ARE PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE TO OZONE AND SHOULD ATTEMPT TO AVOID EXPOSURE. TO AVOID EXPOSURE, MINIMIZE EXERTION OUTDOORS DURING THE MID-DAY TO EARLY EVENING HOURS OR STAY INDOORS IN AN AIR- CONDITIONED ROOM DURING THIS TIME.

Clearly I have been in denial. Somehow thinking I am impervious to the threat posed by the air that I breathe. Also in denial that I am borderline being in that ELDERLY group the National Weather Service indicates has an increased vulnerability to Ozone.

So, from this day forth, there shall be no more noon day aerobic exercising, by me, in the outer world at my polluted location on the planet, until the National Weather Service indicates that the air that I'd be breathing in that outer world is no threat to my respiratory system.

I will continue to go swimming though. In the morning. Which I will do today, Sunday, the second Fall morning of 2012, as soon as the sun arrives to light up this forsaken, polluted place I call home.

Allergy Woes Whilst Hunting For Inner Tubes In Texas

You are looking at the September 18 early afternoon view from my patio viewing portal on the outer world.

I had a rough night, last night. Allergy misery. I managed to have a bout or two of actually sleeping.

Soon after the sun was up, so was I. I thought a dip in that turquoise water you see in the picture might be a good thing.

It was.

The allergy woes, currently, seem to be a low ebb. I've not felt the urge to medicate for hours.

Changing the subject from one type of feeling flat, to another type of feeling flat.

Several days ago I found that the front tire on my bike had gone flat. I was at Super Walmart that very day and found Super Walmart not being too super. All sorts of tire tubes were available, many in obscure sizes I'd not seen before. But none in the 26" mountain bike size, which is usually the size there is the largest supply of, likely due to there being the biggest demand for that size.

This morning I went to the store on the opposite side of the I-30 freeway from Walmart, a store called Target, to return a failed bike bag and to see if Target had a bike tire they wanted to sell me.

Target had way fewer tube choices than Walmart. There were a couple of the Schwinn variety with the slimed, no flat feature. I put one of those slimed no flat tubes on my bike's rear tire when the new tube went flat the day after I bought the bike. It was really difficult to stick the slimed tube in the tire. I did not want to go that route again.

After the Target tube disappointment I drove to the other side of the I-30 freeway to go to the aforementioned Walmart because I needed a jalapeno for the re-fried beans I was slow cooking, and some other stuff.

Upon entering Walmart I headed first to the tire tube area. There was a fresh supply of tubes. Many still in obscure sizes, plus many with the slime, no flat feature.

Then I noticed all the tubes boxes said "Schrader Valve" on them. Does Walmart sell any bikes with tubes using a Schrader Valve? My bikes have always used Presta Valves. My only experience with a Schrader Valve was on someone else's bike, with the person having a lot of woes with his tire tubes.

As I stood forlornly looking at Walmart's tube selection I saw there was one non-Schrader Valve choice. A  Bell brand tube, which was the correct 26" size, Presta Valve. But with that annoying supposed flat preventing slime in the tube.

I decided to buck it up and not risk this being my only chance to ever find a replacement tube that works and and so I got myself a new slimed tire tube that I am dreading installing.

I think I will drag my bike into air-conditioned comfort to perform the operation. But not right now.

No Fog Shrouded Fosdick Lake Today While I Choke Up From Allergic Overload

This morning when I woke up my computer, my computer's weather monitoring device was flashing red, warning me that heavy fog would be making for some limited visibility today.

Well, I saw no fog, not even semi-fog, nothing foggy at all.

I did see some skybound cloud action though, such as what you see via the picture taken today from high atop Fosdick Lake Dam in Oakland Lake Park.

Changing the subject from the lack of fog in the outer world at my location to my own personal interior fog.

Yesterday the allergic woes that have vexed me, off and on, for a week or more, returned to vex me again, with a vengeance.

A combo of factors combined to cause me to think I may have experienced my first ever panic attack.

Yesterday I made really tasty chicken tacos for lunch. I ate too many really tasty chicken tacos. After I was over stuffed with too many chicken tacos an allergic attack set in, making breathing very difficult. Made worse, I think, by my congested lungs being impacted by my congested digestive system.

I thought to myself, is this what drowning feels like? It was not possible to sit without feeling like gasping for air.

So I paced.

Then, even though it was raining, I paced outside. Pacing outside, in the rain, quickly abated the congestive issues to the point where I no longer felt like I was drowning.

Today, on the way to walk around Fosdick Lake, my respiratory system again went into malfunction mode, but quickly recovered once I started walking.

Saturday afternoon, after hiking the Tandy Hills, I got back here and went swimming. That went well, til I laid down on a lounge chair. My respiratory system quickly went into fail mode, so I quickly got vertical and raced back to my Saline Nasal Spray for some relief.

Miss Puerto Rico has year round allergic woes. Miss Puerto Rico called me a couple times on Sunday. But I was in no condition to talk. When I returned from Fosdick Lake I ran into Miss Puerto. I asked if her allergy woes have gotten worse lately. She said they had. She takes prescription meds to medicate her allergic woes.

My allergy treatment meds are all of the over the counter sort. I am currently a mess, but I'm fairly optimistic that I will return to my respiratorical norm before needing to resort to getting medical attention and prescription meds.

I think I will go swimming now and hope not to have a repeat of Saturday's nightmare.

84 Years Old Walking With The Indian Ghosts Who Haunt The Village Creek Natural Historical Area

That is the shaded Village Creek Natural Historical trail you are looking at in the picture.

It was to this location, to walk with my favorite Indian Ghosts, that I drove today to do my daily walking.

I am currently experiencing a respite from the allergic woes I've been experiencing the past couple days. Currently the National Weather Service has issued an Air Quality Alert for this part of the planet. Those who are sensitive to bad air are advised to be careful where they do their breathing.

The pollen level is supposedly extremely high today.

I am hoping whatever it was that caused me to go into allergic meltdown has gone away.

The allergy woes have caused me all sorts of aggravation. Yesterday I seemed to be suffering from some sort of allergy caused dementia.

For instance, yesterday I told someone I was 35 when JFK was assassinated. This would make me only 84 years old. The person I told that I was 35, when JFK last visited Dallas, was under the delusion that I was 29. Thus reading that I was 84 caused her to spew the tea she was drinking all over her keyboard.

I feel real bad every time I cause someone to spew anything on their keyboard.

This morning I learned that 6 months ago I was sent incorrect drawings to add to a website upgrade. I've been asked to insert corrected drawings ASAP. If I was still in allergy suffering mode I don't think I could do anything ASAP that required any attention to detail.

The lunch bell just rang. Chile Rellenos.

A Chilly 59 Degrees With Continued Allergic Misery

Yesterday I mentioned the current temperature, at that point in time, in my old hometown of Mount Vernon, Washington, was 59 degrees.

This morning I woke up to find myself being pleasantly chilled in my current hometown to 59 degrees.

I am still in the throes of allergic misery that is way too much like having a bad cold. The difference, near as I can tell, between allergic misery and having a bad cold, is a bad cold is constant misery, while allergic misery comes and goes.

Currently I am having a slight respite from the woeful misery. Meaning my breathing tubes are currently not obstructed, my eyes are not itching and leaking too much and the sneeze impulse is not coming in waves, although just typing that seems to have brought on a wave of fresh misery on all fronts.

Yesterday, a couple hours before the sun left for the day, I drove blearily to Walmart to buy me some Claritin. I popped one of the Claritin pills before I left the store. For awhile I thought the Claritin was doing me some good. That did not last long. The directions indicated I was to only take one Claritin every 24 hours. Had the pill had a noticeable positive effect I likely would have broken that 24 hour rule when the misery returned, but the misery did not much abate, post-Claritin, so I will stick with that 24 hour rule.

Currently the outer world has been re-heated to a still relatively chilly 70 degrees. Heading to a predicted high today of 87. 87 is not too chilly.

Hiking The Chilly Tandy Hills With Allergic Misery

In the picture you are on top of Mount Tandy, looking west across the old wagon trail that heads towards the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. Those are Fort Worth's tall skyscrapers you see at the end of the road, barely sticking up above the brush.

Today I wondered to myself if any other big town in America has such a primitive road so close to its downtown core? That such a road exists is sort of impressive, somehow avoiding any modern world developments.

Today was the first cool day on the Tandy Hills, in the temperature sense of the cool word, in a very long time. The coolness was made even cooler by a very strong wind blowing.

I was a little disturbed today to see that the ice chest and burial crypt remain just as I found them, way back on August 25. I thought by now someone would have removed the ice chest. Or at least flipped it over and opened it. I guess everyone who passes that location is as squeamish as I am.

Changing the subject from ice chests and burial crypts to my declining health.

Yesterday afternoon I began having respiratory woes. For a short period I wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like. That feeling subsided, after which I was left with the symptoms of an incoming cold. As in sneezing, watery eyes, plugged up breathing tubes.

My condition worsened as the evening progressed. I escaped fairly early to bed, hoping that peaceful slumber would bring relief.

But no sleep came. I got up and searched my medicine cabinet for a drug. I don't like taking drugs unless the situation is dire. I found a bottle of anti-histamines. I popped one of the little white pills. Soon relief followed.

The benefits of the anti-histamine pill have now worn off and I am starting to be at the same point of cold-like misery I was at yesterday afternoon at this time. I really don't want to pop another pill, but I fear I will have no other choice, even though I dread the side effects.

On my way back from the Tandy Hills, as I drove on to my property, I saw Miss Puerto Rico summoning me. Miss Puerto Rico was with Miss Crystal. I exited my vehicle to converse with that pair. Seems they have also been suddenly plagued with the same woes I am plagued with.

Miss Puerto Rico is blaming the woes on all the construction that started up the past couple days. Heavy equipment has been tearing up Boca Raton Boulevard. Lots of dust. I learned  from Miss Puerto that this is the notorious Chesapeake Energy pipeline laying operation that is making the big mess. I should have figured that out myself when I passed a pickup that had a business name with the word "Energy" at the end of the name.

I really think it is a stretch to blame this on the pipeline construction, but this is the only thing that has changed in the past couple days at my location. And Miss Puerto Rico is convinced this is the cause of our misery. She is like the parakeet in a mine, so sensitive are her allergies.

I think I will go pop a little white pill now.

Saturday Night Is All Right For Fighting A Bad Allergy Attack

A Saturday Sun Sets In Texas

In the picture I am sitting at the front of the line at the stop light on John T. White Road, heading west, waiting to cross Loop 820.

I was returning from Wal-Mart.

Why did I go to Wal-Mart, you ask?

Well, sometime after 5 I started to have a really bad allergy attack. Burning, stinging, watery eyes, sneezing, all sorts of misery.

I have had allergy attacks before, rarely, but even though they are rare, when one happens, I know what it is and what I need to do. As in get an anti-histamine. I thought I had an anti-histamine supply stored for just this type emergency, but I was not able to locate it.

So, it was off to Wal-Mart I went, blurry eyed and miserable.

I am now medicated and feeling a lot better. Wonders of modern medicine.

Now, what caused this allergy outbreak I can not help but wonder? I suspect it has something to do with the rain yesterday, after such a long time with no rain, unleashing who knows what bad stuff into the air.

Excuse me, I must take a time out to deal with an incoming sneeze.

Okay, that's over. I thought the little pill had put a stop to this.

I suspect I am in for a long long night.

Is anyone else in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone experiencing a sudden onslaught of allergy symptoms?

Am I Coming Down With A Cold In The Texas HEAT?

I have not been sick in years. No flu, no cold, no nothing.

A few summers ago I did have a bad allergy bout that I thought was a cold at first.

That may be what I have going on now. An allergic reaction to something.

Or I may have a cold. I do not believe I have ever had a cold in summer before. With the temperature over 100 every day it would seem that cold viruses would be withered from the heat, just like everything else.

Right now, at a few minutes after 5, we are being heated to 104.7 degrees HOT. A full blown cold in these HOT temperatures would be a miserable thing, I would think.

My symptoms are a slightly sore throat, a burning sensation in my nasal passages, slight eye irritation and an overall crankiness that is at a higher level of crankiness than my usual ongoing crankiness.

Could Fort Worth's bad air pollution and me exposing myself to it, daily, be what's causing the burning sensations? Anyone else having these symptoms?

I remember having a sore throat when I flew up to Washington in July of 2008, thinking it was caused by the air that I breathe here and that it would quickly get better breathing Washington's much cleaner air. But, it took a week for the cleaner air to clear up the sore throat.

Maybe I am just still recovering from Saturday night's saloon hopping with Elsie Hotpepper. Lord knows a night with Elsie Hotpepper exposes one to a lot of unexpected toxins.

The Next To Last Monday Of April Has Dawned Blue In Texas

As you can clearly see, via one of my viewing portals on the world, it is yet one more blue Monday in Texas.

The outdoor air conditioner is currently conditioning the air to a comfortable 69 degrees. Soon the outdoor furnace will take over, heating the air to a predicted 90, likely forcing the need for the interior A/C to be activated.

Allergy symptoms, which I usually don't have, got to me yesterday, with watery, itchy eyes and overall congestion that was discomforting.

So, I searched the medicine cabinet and found a little blue pill. No, it was not Viagra. I don't keep my Viagra in my medicine cabinet.

The little blue pill was an anti-histamine. I was very pleased at how well the little pill worked.

The last time I had myself an allergic reaction to the air that I breathe here was way back in July of 2008. I was scheduled to fly to Seattle on July 20. I thought that as soon as I started breathing the cleaner Washington air that my sore throat and allergy symptoms would go away instantly.

But, that did not happen. It was at least a week later til the sore throat was gone. Upon my return to Texas, 3 weeks later, the sore throat did not return. Maybe it was not an allergy that caused it.

It is already well past 7 this morning. I need to go swimming before it gets any hotter out there.

An Anti-Histamine Medicated My Allergic To Texas Woes

We are back blue again this morning in my zone of North Texas. Usually, when the sky returns to ,it makes me a happy boy, but, this Thursday morning I'm feeling the Thursday blues.

Why? I don't know. I've been up since fairly early, some time past 4. I think I've been sleeping well, due to be so tired by the end of the day, due to all the extra exertion required to haul around all my newly gained heft.

You try hauling around 40 extra pounds, all day long, and see if you're not worn out by the time the sun goes away.

I really do not see how those who are carrying around a few hundred extra pounds manage it. The underlying musculature, that moves all that heft, must be quite extensive.

I have an issue. Or two. Troubling me, that I want to discuss with my therapist, Dr. L.C., but she seems to have gone missing, I'm assuming due to being operated on, yesterday, and not yet fully recovered.

The Queen of Wink is heading to San Antonio and told me I can come along. If I drive. I've only been to San Antonio once and really liked it. It's a sparkling clean looking town, unlike some towns I've seen in Texas, for instance, like the one I'm sitting in right now. It's current nickname is Dirty Ol' Town, due to being, well, dirty.

The stuff in the air that I breathe in this air polluted zone of Texas in which I reside had me in full sneezy, itchy eyed allergy mode, which I medicated with an anti-histamine yesterday to good effect. My eyes have returned to full function mode. As has the rest of me, for the most part.