“Rising Pollen Levels Irritate Nashvillians.”
That’s today’s headline on the front page of our local newspaper,
the Tennessean. I’m definitely one of those irritated Nashvillians. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had problems with
allergies and asthma. Little did I know when I moved to Nashville some years ago, that I had selected one of the
ten worst cities in the country for allergy sufferers.
I’m highly sensitive to ash, birch, oak, sycamore, pigweed, poplar . . . name your tree really. Dust and molds too. And
dogs and cats. A future candidate for life in a bubble.
With the help of some prescription drugs, I’ve been able to keep my problems in check.
But every April, I brace myself. April is my arch-nemesis, my Green Goblin. And green goblins are what are currently
residing in my chest. Ugh. I think the combination of heavy rains and high winds has stirred up some serious pollen in
Nashville, and even though I had been taking my preventive medicines, it just overwhelmed me. The last few days
have been quite unpleasant. Let’s just say, around my house, I’m single-handedly bringing the spittoon back in style.
So I went to the allergist today. The doctor I’d been seeing for years retired last year. His practice
was taken over by two physicians who had worked with him. First, they gave me a test to measure lung
capacity. Basically, you exhale with all your might into a tube, which is attached to machine. You keep blowing for six seconds. It’s harder than it sounds. Especially on days like today. My score was the same as Erno, the one-lunged man. No, not really. But it wasn’t good. So that means the usual round of drugs and inhalers (which I should be taking with more diligence anyway). And a suggestion that maybe it’s time I start taking allergy shots. If only I didn’t dread needles so much. But I might
consider it.
I was thinking that asthma has kind of defined my singing style (if I could say that I have a style, or that I’m even a singer).
The breathy sound, you know. Sometimes I wish I had endless lung capacity, so I could hold notes for hours.
Oh well, I’m just rambling. I hope that all you allergy and asthma sufferers are weathering the pollen count okay, wherever
you are. Here’s to breathing easier soon.
OK. That’s enough with the self-deprecating assessment of your singing ability. Granted you don’t possess the sweetest tone and timbre (thank god for Molly), but I’m sure I’m not the only one out here who enjoys your singing a lot. My iTunes list has two SD entries: “Complete” with everything including the United Airlines bumpers from the Rarities CD, and a “Best of” which just fits on a burnable CD. Lo and behold, of the 23 songs on the Best list, you have the lead vocal on five tunes, and four others are true duets. So there!