Monday, March 23, 2015

The Allergy Apocalypse- 4 Easy Ways to Fight and Win


If your house is anything like mine, the doors and windows have been wide open to greet these first few days of springtime. Sunshine and 70 degrees is a welcome change after the winter that never seemed to end. No sooner had the beautiful white blossoms of the Dogwood trees reached their apex than I felt a familiar tickle in the back of my throat that warned me of impending doom. Behold, the great green pollen cloud of death will soon be upon us!

Here are four easy steps you can take to survive the allergy apocalypse.

1. Wear Natural Fiber Clothing.
Synthetic fibers create electricity when they rub together. That charge acts like a magnet to every allergen east of the Mississippi. Not only will you have the pleasure of being up close and personal with every weapon in Mother Nature's springtime arsenal, you will also bring all of those insipid little molecules into your home. For the next several weeks, I invite you to enjoy the touch, the feel of cotton: the fabric of our lives.


2. Cut Down on Hair Products.
Think of that bright yellow bottle of LA Looks ultimate hold hair gel as nothing more than glue for pollen. The same can be said of every single product you use to get that 'just stepped out of a salon' look. Even the fancy all-natural hair products will make you more all-natural than you originally intended during the allergy apocolypse. For the next few weeks, just grab a hat. It's about survival, y'all!

3. Wear a Hat (and big sunglasses).
Don't you just love a good segue? Wearing a hat will keep the pollen out of your hair and out of your life. For all of the pale readers of this fine post, a wide-brimmed hat will do you the additional favor of shielding you from the first rays of sunlight you have likely been exposed to in about five months. Throwing on a pair of large sunglasses will keep the pollen off of your eyelashes and brows as well as giving you the pleasure of looking like Audrey Hepburn while you fiddle in your garden.


4. Take a Spring Shower.
Grabbing a quick shower at night is a must for anyone who wants to fight in the pollen resistance. Regardless of how much of my sage advice you decide to follow, you will have pollen on you by day's end. A hot shower before bed will have three distinct benefits. First, it will wash much of the pollen off of your body. Second, the steam will relieve inflamed sinuses and help clear any congestion before bedtime. Lastly, washing the pollen off of your body will keep you from bringing the enemy to bed with you. A good night of sleep isn't easy when breathing is difficult. Viva la resistance!

Friday, March 6, 2015

Bugs, Golf, WWI and Heart Attacks- A Brief History of Daylight Saving Time



Like so many things that are a part of the American routine, few people ever take the time to look at why we observe Daylight Saving Time. In the fall we celebrate an extra hour of sleep and every spring we complain about having to get up an hour earlier. Despite the massive inconvenience we experience, few can articulate the 'why' behind the concept of Daylight Saving Time.

Back in the good ol' days, time was regulated by the rising and setting of the sun. We were a largely agrarian society and when the sun went down we knew it was time to sleep. When the sun came up, rise and shine y'all. Beginning around the time of the industrial revolution, the sun no longer regulated the workforce and the need for government intervention presented itself. Or so we were told.

Originally, the concept of DST is attributed to a British born New Zealander named George Vernon Hudson. George had a shift work job in a post office which afforded him little time to do his bug collecting in the dusk hours of summer. Rather than ask to get off a little early, George decided that attempting to alter the way the entire planet recorded time would be a better idea. Talk about going postal! While many may argue with his method, the proof is in the pudding. His bug collection is the largest in New Zealand to this day and is still on display in the Museum of New Zealand.

Collecting bugs didn't prove as catchy a rationale as George was hoping and while he is credited with inventing the scheme, William Willett gets equal billing in most accounts. Willett had a far more palatable reason and approach to the concept of changing the clocks. He just wanted a few extra minutes to finish his evening round of golf. Willett's proposal, outlined in the famous pamphlet "The Waste of Daylight," only called for a 20 minute shift as opposed to Hudson's two hour change. It was taken up by Parliament in 1908 and summarily defeated.

It wasn't until WWI that a nation actually enacted DST. Austria and Germany put it into place to deal with the war-caused coal shortages. Not wanting to be left out of the Kaiser's fun, American president Woodrow Wilson (along with several European nations) followed Germany's lead and made DST the law of the land here at home. It was repealed shortly after the war until FDR re-enacted it as "war time" in 1942. That time it stuck.

The results of DST have been suspect at best. A 1975 study, published by the Department of Energy proved conclusively that DST saves energy and then was thoroughly debunked. Several studies regarding the affects of Daylight Saving Time may not have the authority of a debunked DOE study but still present some troubling questions to the casual observer.

- Clock shifts increase the risk of heart attacks by 10%.
- Disprutions of the circadian rhythms can be severe and last for weeks.
- Suicide rates rise dramatically in the weeks following the spring transition.

As you stumble around in the dark on Sunday morning, trying to figure out how to reset the clock on your microwave, take comfort in knowing that there was a Kiwi postman and a British golfer you can blame for the heart attack you are 10% more likely to have. Happy Friday.





Tuesday, March 3, 2015

The Lesson of Daffodils.


I stood in my living room this morning looking out at the world. Dead leaves. Dead grass. Mud colored snow that had yet to melt away. No matter which direction I looked, the evidence of life was hidden from me; slumbering under a blanket of somber beige. There was dreary everywhere, everywhere except for my neighbors mailbox. There, in the midst of all this drab, were bright green shoots of daffodils already beginning to make their ascent toward spring.

It is a lesson I learn every year. Every spring I promise myself that next year my yard, my garden, my mailbox will host these optimistic plants. I make resolutions that I will plan ahead and plant before the ground freezes so that the happy daffodils will be there to greet me long before the rest of the world has begun to thaw. But then...life happens.

Stuff gets in the way. Good stuff. Important stuff. Necessary stuff. Stuff distracts me from the relatively simple task of putting some bulbs in the ground. As a result, I stand in my living room after an endless week of snow and ice looking for daffodils which I have neglected to plant...again.

I recently visited with a couple who is doing their best to care for each other without the benefits of any family to assist. With both spouses approaching their 90's, the fact that they have been able to live independently for as long as they have is nothing short of amazing. Unfortunately, as in so many cases, an event took place a few weeks ago which has changed the trajectory of their journey. One spouse gave too much and ended up paying the price of her own health. Now they are separated from each other in every way. Questions abound. Who will care for him while she recovers? Who will manage finances while she is away? Who will manage the many prescriptions and dietary needs that need daily tending? So many questions that needed to have been answered long before are now left to be decided by friends and neighbors. However well intentioned, this remarkable couple is on the verge of losing the one thing they fought so long and hard to retain: control over their own lives.

The warnings were there year after year. Make a plan. Designate a POA. Establish advance directives. Write a will. But then...life happened. Stuff got in the way. Good stuff. Important stuff. Necessary stuff.

And the daffodils are their remind the rest of us every spring.