Journal Entries
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Bon Journal
Hayfever and climate change
Finally, the day is warm enough to sit outside and read. I cycle to
the post office and the supermarket. I wash my clothes and dry them outside.
I repot the coriander and basil plants.
Then disaster struck.
I couldn't stop sneezing. My nose kept running. My eyes kept watering.
I had to run inside, shut all windows, and hold on to my box of kleenex
tissues.
What happened?
Here I am, wringing my fourth handkerchief after swallowing my second
antihistamine tablet. I try eyedrops and nasal spray. I feel better after
eating - but the spasms start again: ACHOO! ACHOO!
I never had hayfever before summer of 1997. I returned to central London
and started sneezing almost as soon as I landed. Since I didn't know what
it was, I never went to a doctor. I just kept blowing my nose, tearing
my eyes out, everywhere I cycled.
A year later, I learned of the term "pollen count".
And every year I suffer. I wake up with a sneeze. I wake up to stinging
eyelids. I cough. I feel crippled by the environment.
How can that be? Doctors say you grow into allergies not out of them.
So, the older I get, the more I have to live with these allergies. But
surely global climate change has something to do with this?
Ironically, I've been researching this very topic: climate change, global
warming, greenhouse gas emissions, Kyoto Protocol. I'm aggravated that
the US has pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol. I'm disturbed that delay
tactics are the response to questioning the uncertainty of minor points.
I am overwhelmed by the amount of information and yet the lack of simple,
clear-cut "knowledge" to the layman. So I want to make it clear
and understood.
If not for my hayfever, I wouldn't feel so passionate about this subject.
If not for my hayfever, I would have finished writing by now. Instead,
I pace and struggle all day just to have five minutes without blowing
my nose.
It's night time 2 am. After I wake up, I should embrace the longest
day of the year.
But I'll have to wish with all my heart that the grass pollen count
would be minimal. Highly unlikely - if I want to have a warm sunny day!
21 June 2001
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