Even at 6:30 am the pollen in the air is so thick it coats your tongue. I woke up with a scratchy throat as I do every March/April, so I wore one of my face masks on our morning walk, which helped. Of course the few people who saw me think I’m masking because of the virus, and I won’t say I’m not but that is in addition to trying to keep the pollen out of my airways.
Oddly, I never even thought about simple face masks against pollen until I got into c-dramas last year — an odd connection, until you start looking up your fave Chinese actors photos online and see them, and everyone around them, wearing face masks. I can’t speak to the cultural reasons of the popularity of face masks in Asian countries/cultures, but interestingly I have read analysis about how focused on eyes Asian culture in general (very general) is, while in the West (again, general) our focus is on each other’s mouths, so in the West face masks are considered off-putting and anti social.
Until a pandemic strikes, of course.
Anyway, the walk was slow and genial. A few people out making the rounds as usual, and sparse early morning Sunday traffic as usual. Although I suspect instead of picking up near 8 am due to church goers it will stay sparse most of the day. Thanks to the face mask by the time I got home I was not wheezing, so small blessings there.
My stomach is handling food a lot better, by the way (some have asked). Nearly a month after the stomach flu from hell and I can eat most foods again (pizza is back on the menu!!!!), and I am finally not craving yogurt anymore (that was so weird, okay?) but apparently I’m still off coffee and heavy spices, WOE!!!!! *sad face*
Fortunately I love miso soup with tofu and wuhan hot dry noodles, and of course pizza. I’m settled in for the long haul.