♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦
Topic #170
Many of us wax poetic at the end of winter and the return of spring. Let’s swap that around. What’s the one thing about spring that you can’t stand?
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This is an older photo but it checks out. My patchy grass, before the fence replacement that turned it all to mud.
Spring, when it’s finally sprung, does make me very happy. But—there are a few things that make me less enthused. With the prospect of winter at last behind me, there’s not a lot I will be caught complaining about. The winter just makes me so miserable. The cold has gotten worse for my body to deal with, and my allergies do not let up no matter what time of year it is (mold).
So what about Spring disappoints me? The mud. As you know, I am a dog person. I’ve always had a dog in my life, and I always will. It seems, with that, I will have mud in my life! Where I have lived, currently and in the past, has had a grass problem—meaning not enough. I long for my parent’s, where this didn’t seem to be an issue at all.
At the current apartment, the backyard has been trampled by Fionn into a veritable mud pit. And, of course, he tracks it right across my tan carpets. There’s so much cleaning through the parts of winter and spring, and sometimes fall, where the ground is wet not frozen. Spring is the worst. This year, I have begun combatting this with laying down grass seed. So far, it’s working, as it’s sprouting and the lawn is filling in. But, this is going to be a long fight, that won’t clear up the problem this spring. I’ll be planting grass through spring and summer, to make that patch of grass I have nice and full. Anyone who has fought the lawn battle will fully understand what I’m facing. Thankfully, the area is small, and I can get away with less investment. So there’s that.
Mr. Fionn enjoying the sun as a puppy (2017).
As I mentioned above, there is no season that goes by without my allergies bugging me. They’re at their worst in late fall, winter, and spring. This is when the moisture gets into things, and mold blooms. I laugh when the apps to track allergens says there is no mold, but my allergies are banging. They need to get clear on where it is (not in the open air), and measure it better.
My allergies give me dizziness, headaches, sinus issues, red itchy eyes (with soreness on the lids), and fatigue. It’s been a struggle, because I find no rest from them, and they flair randomly. Thus, I’d have to take allergy medicine every single day, and I am not going to do that. Taking it as needed means that I am affected by drowsiness until the stuff builds up in my system. Since having Katie, I haven’t taken any, because I can’t be that level of tired with her. Driving and working, and caring for her needs otherwise are all too important. So, I push through. Once it gets drier, hopefully, the allergy subsides.
Regardless of these two things, I am mostly happy to see Spring again. The flowers and warmth improve my mood, and the better weather make it easier to be out and about.
Let’s hop on over and see what about spring bothers the other authors…
URL: https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/3019fad1d48e4cbc991dacd13316394e
P.J. MacLayne says
April 22, 2019 at 9:13 pmAs kids, we use to make paths through the yard just because we all took the same shortcuts to get places. My dad eventually gave up on trying to fix the muddy patches, and we just took of out shoes in the back porch so we didn’t track mud into the house. Can’t do that with a dog!
Captain Maiel says
April 24, 2019 at 9:28 pmSomeone needs to invent little rubber socks or something for them, that feel natural and are easy to put on.
Lela Markham says
April 25, 2019 at 12:28 pmWe had a dog who was very well trained who we trained to “wipe your feet”, which meant to sit on a rug by the door until we deemed her paws were sufficient dry enough to not track mud. She was just a really smart dog who wanted to please us, so it worked really well, but the two we’ve had since had trouble with the concept. Cana would probably have held the sit-stay until her bladder burst. They’d stay for a few minutes and then head off through the house as soon as our backs were turned. We’re talking about getting a puppy, so we’ll see if we can train the next one.
Captain Maiel says
April 27, 2019 at 9:01 pmIt’s interesting how different they are with training–what they will and won’t tolerate. 🙂 They just fascinate me.
Stevie Turner says
April 23, 2019 at 4:04 amHa ha, mud and allergies are two of many reasons why I’m not a dog person. Any animal with fur makes me itch and sneeze, although cats and rodents affect me the most. Have you had a patch test (it could pinpoint your allergy)?
Captain Maiel says
April 24, 2019 at 9:29 pmI didn’t have the patch test, but I track my symptoms. They coincide with mold outbreaks and wet weather that breeds it.
Lela Markham says
April 23, 2019 at 12:43 pmHave you tried doing a saline rinse on your nasals? I started on doctor’s orders during a bad sinus infection about a dozen years ago and the side benefit was that I now power through snow-mold season which used to be horrible. Most of the year, I only rinse maybe once a week, but in March-April (when the snow pack is melting and revealing all the mold) I rinse every day and sometimes twice. I don’t have headaches anymore and I can breath. And because it’s targeting just the area of need rather than my whole body, I don’t experience side effects. It might be worth a try.
Captain Maiel says
April 24, 2019 at 9:31 pmNo. You mean like a neti pot? I haven’t. I’ve heard too many horror stories, it worries me too much to give it a try. BUT–that said–my doctor did recommend a saline spray–it’s a spray bottle, like you’d get for any nasal spray.
Lela Markham says
April 25, 2019 at 12:44 pmNeti Pot company (Neal Med, I think) also makes a low-pressure, high-volume wash bottle, which is different from the high-pressure, low-volume nasal spray. That always feels like an assault on my sinuses and it never relieved my symptoms. The Neti Pot itself is sort of like self-waterboarding, so I used it once and never again. The bottle allows you to remain upright, so I don’t feel like I’m trying to drown myself. Alaska has a long snow mold season, a longer indoor winter extremely dry air combined with pet dander season, and an intense and mercifully short tree pollen season, so I know a lot of people who use either the Neti Pot or the wash bottle, As with all things, there are safety precautions to follow, namely keeping the bottle clean and dry between uses.
Captain Maiel says
April 27, 2019 at 9:01 pmI imagine purified water is a must too. hahah at the waterboarding! So true!