Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Ragweed

Today I received a newsletter from a journal writer. She starts as: "Autumn truly is an amazing time of year. The changing leaves, the shorter days, and the chilly weather are all felt keenly." That made me chuckle. I bet she doesn't live in South Florida. We're hot here again 89 degrees, which feels like 96 if you're under the sun. I miss the lingering autumn drizzles of Northeast, the changing of the colors, putting away the summer wear from the closets to make place for the winter things. One thing I don't miss is the allergies, the ones that come from weeds, and specifically ragweed. Because ragweed allergy, combined with other allergies, gave me such terrible attacks of asthma, we moved to Florida, since mainland USA has it all over each state to some degree, but not California and Florida.

People are afraid of sharks, alligators, snakes, and hurricanes of Florida, but I am afraid of ragweed, even if some of its pollen is a component of honey. Go figure!

Because ragweed scares me so much, I might put it in a horror story. Ragweed or ambrosia --as the ancient Greeks called it-- has the most widespread and dangerous weed pollen to those who are allergic to it, even if this weed only grows one to four feet tall. Ambrosia, what a name! It means divine dish. Some dish!

Come to think of it, it would be like those gods to enjoy such a dish. Just look at what we humans have to put up with here on earth. Our pains and sorrows must be their feast, too. Crazy gods!