Rare News Desk
Central Texans, myself included, were unpleasantly surprised when its most despised tree in all the land decided it was going to start pollenating earlier than usual. Not only did it move it’s hellish mating ritual up a few weeks it did so with a vengeance, and right in the middle of the Christmas holiday, forcing Texans to open up boxes of tissue along with their presents.
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The sudden arrival of pollen happened overnight after the trees were treated to a much colder, and wetter December than usual.
KVUE, the news station within Austin, says they counted over 3,000 grains per cubic meter under a microscope, a number professional allergists say they haven’t seen before Christmas…ever. What’s more, experts seem to be in agreement that it’s only going to get much worse in what is being called a “tidal wave of cedar pollen.” Weirdly, this description isn’t too far off the mark. The orangish dust coming off these mountain junipers is doing so in wafts making it look like the trees in the hills are smoking.
While many proclaim that Texas is the greatest state in the nation, this is one of the few things that Texans must live with every year from December to February. Texas has the highest concentration of the mountain cedar, and while many would love to burn it all to the ground it would be somewhat impossible. It makes up a good portion of the hill country woodlands, so not only would getting rid of it be a monumental task, it would be environmentally irresponsible. It’s just one of those bad things that Texans must take with all the good.
If you live in anywhere in the area from Austin to Dallas, you’re feeling all the bad effects of the pollen bomb.
“Compared with it, ragweed is a wimp,” says Texas Monthly’s Patricia Sharpe. “The key is the biochemical structure of cedar pollen’s protein coat, which appears to have the properties that make it unusually noxious.” This noxious result is a sickness called “Cedar Fever.” Puffy burning eyes, clogged nasal passages, sore throat, constant sneezing, and an exhaustion your body feels that you tend to experience when you have the flu.
Doctors say there are various ways to treat cedar fever but the best is to get allergy shots. If you already suffer from asthma then this should be a priority this year, as the pollen already will complicate your breathing as is. If you have a way to leave central Texas then some experts have advised that you literally flee from the more heavily affected areas. I myself am currently writing this from Galveston island where the levels are lowest.
With experts in agreement that this is only going to worsen, I would call the doc and schedule a shot pronto.
Good luck Texas.
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