Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

Today was the first day this year that the weather was nice enough that we could open windows and doors on both the east and west sides of the house and let the air flow through. There was a light breeze, and it did not take long to blow out the musty air. Of course, it won't be long before things get too hot, but in those cases, on most evenings, we'll be able to leave the windows open through the night and cool things off overnight.

Lisa and I both went to bed early last night and woke up early as a consequence. That meant that when I went down to the breakfast buffet to bring Lisa and me trays of food, I was among the first people there. We did not rush, and we both had big breakfasts. I got a long shower and Lisa got another bath, and then we packed out of the hotel and checked out around 8:30 AM, which probably relieved the hotel, as I heard them say that they had lots of departures and arrival today. I did the driving, because while Lisa slept longer than I did, she did not sleep well and wasn't feeling all that great, whereas I appear to have recovered from the effects of the sedation yesterday.

We stopped briefly in Colfax where I got another coffee, and then at Donner Summit, where there's still quite of bit of snow on the ground at the eastbound rest area.

( But Not Very Pretty Snow )

Heading down from Truckee past the Agricultural Inspection Station (westbound only), I saw something that I have never seen before. I couldn't take a picture because there was almost no place I could have stopped to take it. The are was full of a greenish haze. We concluded that the pine trees had all released pollen at the same time, over a huge area, filling the air with their pollen. We should have put on our N95 masks back on, even inside the van, as both of us were coughing and hacking later in the day, Lisa worse than me.

We made no further stops, and got home before Noon. Yep, Roseville is a lot closer to Fernley than Palo Alto.

I still don't feel well, but as it's all sinus headaches, stuffy head, and sometimes a sore throat and chest congestion from nasal drainage, without any fever, and as I continue to test negative for COVID-19, I have to figure it's hay fever. And when I walked around the block this morning, I could see a likely source of the problem.

( Cottonwood Time )

As usual, all I can do is tough this out and hope it clears sooner rather than later. I don't want to be coughing like this all the way until Westercon.

Back on May 5, I wrote about our little dwarf spruce putting out buds. I'm happy to see that the tree continues to grow.

( Three weeks of new growth )

Two days earlier, I wrote about the tree beside the front porch, which I'd reduced to mostly just sticks last autumn. It is roaring back to life.

( Zoom! )

It won't be long before that porch tree gets so adventurous that I'll have to trim it back so that we can use the front steps.