Nose knows...It's Spring!

Washington State had the mildest winter this year. We only got a few hours of snow for a couple of days the entire winter, during which time the snow flakes didn't even stack into any measurable snow. In early February, it started to look like spring, which is very unusual. Now, spring is showing its signs of full arrival: spring bulbs blooming into flowers, new shoots growing out of the trees, green grass breaking from the ground, and humming birds slapping their wings around their feeders...It's official: Spring is here!

Nose knows it too. My nose gets itchy, stuffy and running as we enter into March. Washington is the evergreen state. The thick evergreen landscape and the blooming floras bring up heavy pollens in spring. I'm so blessed in spring than in any other season. "Bless you" comes in double, triple and multiple every time I step outside.

So do eyes. They know it too. My eyes get dry, itchy and red. Forget about eye makeup in spring. The second I finish putting on wet mascara, I sneeze. They always happen in perfect sync. The mirror reflects a new eye shadow effect that resembles a pair of panda eyes. I hope one day a fashion forward designer should integret that effect into spring eye makeup fashion. Since I can not single-handedly start a new fashion trend, I have to face the world with my bare eyes. The only eye makeup kit I need in spring is eye drops. Burn ban is not in effect yet but be prepared to switch your song from "Smoke gets in your eyes" to "Pollen gets in your eyes" on every outdoor attempt. Gazing upon the flowers, I "cry me a river". Why so sad? You ask. Coz I'm so in touch with the nature. Eyes can't lie.

My mom in China told me some trivia about sneezing one time. She says at the moment when you sneeze, your heart actually stops beating. She also says the violent act of head shakes from frequent sneezing affects memory. No wonder I'm getting forgetful. It's a relief to know my short memory is caused by my sneezing, not by Alzheimer’s disease or mad cow disease as I suspected. My mom is not a doctor but she reads a lot of magazines and papers in her post-teaching retirement in China. I usually dismiss her source of information as being Chinese folklore. However, I believe she might be right about sneezing. I even want to add to that trivia: sneezing can cause deaf. My sneezing produces the sound of ear-shattering thunder which can rupture the eardrum and result in hearing loss. If I missed your phone calls, it was because either I was busy sneezing or I didn't hear the phone rings. God's truth.

Can't smell; can’t see; can't hear; and can’t remember. Spring, as a season of new life, turns me into seasonal disability. When I finally seek treatment in hospital, the doctors tell me: There is nothing wrong with you. It’s just spring fever. The symptoms come with spring season for some people. Funny I also came with spring - I was born in spring. On one spring day in old China, I broke out of my mother's womb. I smelt, saw, heard,  and remembered (ok "remembered" is a stretch. Who knows, maybe subconsciously I remembered being slapped on the bottom at birth and that's why I have had an urge to strike back with sneezing every Spring ever since).

There is no need  to check a calendar. I can tell Spring is here. My nose knows. I just love Spring - a season that I can feel with all my senses. Yeah, I have the Spring fever.