In the Asteroid Belt

Posted on April 7, 2003 in Pulmonary

I remember looking under a microscope in high school at some grains of pollen and what I saw were asteroids with hundreds of claws. Ever since then, I’ve imagined the springtime air as a meteor shower hurling sub-extinction level events at my nose, eyes, and throat.

Because of the medications that I take, I don’t get to use actifed or any of those other non-drowsy formulas for the drip and the itch. I must use benadryl, the heavy stuff that puts me to sleep. Since the blossoming of the mustard and whatever grows in the chaparral, I’ve spent a lot of time in bed, sleeping off the effects and having wild dreams.

I read once that every living creature gets a limited number of heart beats. When you reach the vicinity of that number, your light fails. Those that sleep slow their hearts.

The trouble is that the heart doesn’t slow enough when you sleep. How many daylight hours do I miss compared to the average person?

I suffer all this — the sneezing, the itching, the doubts about my longevity –this because of the promiscuous, uninhibited sex life of weeds, trees, and shrubs.

Don’t get me wrong: I love the fancy dress ball. The pity is that I have to sleep through most of it, fending off the sharp showers of flower sperm with medicines that make me dopey.