When I was a little girl, I used to ride the bus home after school. Each day we'd pass by this big, enchanting tree that would yield beautiful yellow blossoms every year. The branches would lag down due to the weight of the gorgeous yellow blooms and I remember thinking that the tree looked like someone had splattered it with sweet butter. It looked heavenly and smelled even better. I even learned later it had an equally magnificent name. It was called an Acacia tree and I thought that name sounded like floral royalty.

One day, as the bus was passing this tree, we were forced to stop for a passing car. As we were waiting, one of the branches poked in through my open window and I was able to pull off a sliver of the tree containing hundreds of these beautiful buttery blossoms. The sweet honey smell was overwhelming and I just knew that my mom was going to be so excited that I had picked her a gorgeous piece of floral goodness. The bus driver didn't look to thrilled because my prize was oozing yellow dust all over myself and my seat. She appeared to be very happy when I finally exited the bus, branch in hand. I skipped all the way home even somewhat resembling Laura Ingalls-Wilder floating across the prairie grasses to her own "Ma" and "Pa."

When I got home, my mom immediately noticed that I had brought her a gift. However, her reply wasn't what I had expected. I remember her yelling at me, "Get that thing outta here! That's Acacia and you'll kill your father!" (dad happens to be an asthmatic and have a lot of allergies - oops), as she ripped the branch from my startled hand and pitched it out the backdoor. She then commenced into a sneezing fit all the while trying to mop up the the fallen pollen that was still floating in the air and taking up residence in the livingroom. Later that night, after the initial sadness and rejection eased up, I also developed allergy type symptons and felt genuinely miserable, mad at myself for trying kill my entire family with one tree branch.

Welcome to March in Humboldt County. It's one of the most beautiful times of the year; all the fruit trees and flowering bushes are starting to bloom and the sun is finally starting to peek out from the clouds. But alas, with beauty comes trouble in the form of painful and irritating allergy symptons. To many outsiders, they think it's the good 'ole Humboldt crud. For the rest of us, the beautiful layer of yellow dust coating our cars and houses are self-explanatory.

During this time of year, I'm making weekly Costco runs for cheap Kleenex and my kids have learned to tell me if their sneezes are "dry" or "wet" (a.k.a. do you need a hankie or not?). And to the outside commentator, no it's not Pink Eye; it's nature's way of playing a joke on all the exposed membranes in my body. My eyes love feeling red and itchy and the watery discharge is just a bonus perk. To top it all off, my husband recently found out that I was having a nightly affair with a man named Zyrtec but he's learning to be ok with it because I did dump Cruddy C. I'm glad he's not a jealous man :o).

To all those out there suffering along with me, good luck. If you have a cure all, please do share. But in the meanwhile, Wallyworld carries a 30 day supply of my man "Z" for about $18. Happy sneezing!