You know those movies like "War of the Worlds", where vicious, technologically advanced aliens are brought low by something such as a measly bacterium? Well I say bunk that! Just send 'em down here to Atlanta and let the pollen do a number on them! This is one of the most beautiful cities you'll see in North America in the spring, literally a riot of colors: Reds, pinks, violets, lavenders--every color under the rainbow. Every yard, park, and street is filled with dogwoods, azaleas, roses, crepe myrtles. But the pollen? Oh my gosh. An extremely high pollen count--where just about anyone with even the slightest allergy tendencies will feel some effects--is a measure of 120. Our pollen count today? A whopping 5733! I literally wrote my name on my car windshield with my finger today, the pollen's so thick. I washed the car off, went to the gym for one hour, and came out to see the entire car completely covered again in yellow dust. Pictures taken from news copters show the entire city covered in a thick haze like smog, obscuring visibility, but it ain't smog. That's pollen so thick in the air the city is barely visible from a thousand feet up! Needless to say I am miserable: running eyes, congestion, coughing, sneezing, wheezing.
So let Mars attack. Bring on the Invaders. Let the First Wave come. They might decimate the rest of the country, but an hour of sneezing in Atlanta will have them fleeing the Earth never to return--with a brief stop at CVS on the way for some Benedryl! ********************************************************** http://www.atlantaallergy.com/EducationDetail.aspx?Id=33&Cat=3 ATLANTA - The Metro area is seeing a record high pollen count Wednesday. Wednesday's pollen count is an incredible 5733, nearly double Tuesday's count. The recent spike in pollen has allergy sufferers facing miserable symptoms. "I literally could not sleep at night. I was up all night coughing, sneezing, my eyes were watering," said allergy sufferer Kathleen Daniel. Kathleen Daniel has struggled with allergy problems since childhood and says she knows she'll be on allergy medication for much of her life. So when the warm weather hit our area -- she knew she was in a world of trouble. "When I see all those pretty blooms I think oh no, here it comes," said Daniel. A pollen count of 120 is considered high -- Tuesday's pollen count was a whopping 2967. Wednesday's warm weather could make it even higher. Allergist Dr.. Stanley Fineman said this year's pollen season has hit hard and quickly. "There's been a delay in the high pollen counts, so now we're seeing it all of a sudden," said Dr. Stanley Fineman of Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic. And it's not just the thick yellow film that covers your car that makes life miserable, adding that microscopic pollens from nut trees may be causing the most difficulty. Fineman said for patients like Daniel -- doctors recommend limiting their exposure to the outside conditions. "They should be indoors. Close the windows, use the a.c., wash their hair before they go to sleep. Because there may be pollen in their hair, and basically strict avoidance techniques," said Fineman.
