My least favorite color...

Every spring, a yellow destiny is fulfilled across windshields, back porches, and stationary garden gnomes. Pollen. Most hate it. I am indifferent to nature's ways. It is not my place to complain about the natural order of things. Taxes, on the other hand, might not be part of the natural order of things. But taxes have allowed us to change the natural order of things by building roads, starting programs, and yes, paying wages. Pollen and tax time rendezvous simultaneously in April. Hopefully, pollen hasn't collected on your NC-400 forms. Mine were submitted weeks ago. I just wish pollen were clear, not yellow. Only the grossest things in nature are yellow...

Yesterday, As I went to retrieve my car from the mechanic (stupid check engine light, pollen yellow, albeit), I drove across the Sound Bridge en route to Edenton. The Albemarle's current tops were coated in yellow slime. Pollen even lands and sticks to the water. Allergy sufferers everywhere detest the maize colored plant dust, but for every life it complicates, 10 fold it propogates. Without pollen, we might not have plants, or pollen. That garden you planted, has pollen. And bees. If the bee herd was wiped out, who would fertilize the flowers? Not me...I'm really busy.

Pollen, is such a kind word, too. Pollen would make a nice name for a child. It sounds gentle. And it is...you never hear it arrive. It collects gently on all surface, indoors and out, it seems. But along with pollen, vibrant greens, pinks, and whites erupt from branches, stalks, and crowns throughout the forest. I like trees, and have been known to hug one, now and again...and like Gordon Macquarrie, I am on speaking terms with several giant cypress trees in my favorite duck marsh. They have kept me company on slow days afield.

A reprieve is in the wings, though. My least favorite color also precedes the surname or my mortal enemy, the yellow fly. The yellow flies will only appear once the pollen is gone. Late in the year, even the yellow fly will go dormant. I guess they get tired of gnawing on the nape of my neck and neighbor.

The pollen will be gone soon enough. As much as I dislike its appearance, I am thankful for what it does. For me, it is the usherance of summer. A season of freedom, fun, and adventure. The Center perpetuates that in every child that visits...

Enjoy the day...