The Bradford Pear trees are in bloom right now. This is an interesting time of year because they are beautiful trees that line the entire city, but they smell like dirty socks. So, there is this general stale must to the air which actually creeped into our house last night (they are used all over our neighborhood) and had me cursing Spring.
Of course, along with the blooms, come the allergies. Everyone in my family suffers from allergies in different forms and extremes. My allergies faded with my youth so mine don’t ever get too bad. And mine rarely end up in my chest. My throat gets a bit sore, but mainly it stays in my head/nose. NikkiZ, on the other hand, sounds like she’s been smoking for the last 25 years of her life. The cough…the raspy voice…it’s damn sexy. I’m hoping that hers stay as moderate as mine do because I can function fine through allergy season with little-to-no intervention. There are others in our family not so lucky. I’m not sure how allergy season manifests in your neck of the woods, but in Northern Alabama? It’s not a pretty scene. You constantly find yourself praying that the person who just blew their nose behind you in line at Target is simply reacting to the pollen and not spreading a cold germ all over the back of your neck.
How is allergy season in your neck of the woods? Do you suffer? Do you treat your allergies in anyway? Do you think Bradford Pear trees also smell like dirty laundry?
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Last year my allergies caused me to lose my voice every evening. It was so strange. So far allergies have been far away, I guess waiting until everyone in my house is over the plague.
The house next to us has a Bradford Pear tree that overhangs our driveway. I have never noticed a smell but that is probably because I am so focused on the fact that it is CONSTANTLY dropping crap on our cars all. year. long. There is not a tree in the world I hate more.
I’m lucky ~ I don’t have allergies. However, my boyfriend has severe allergies. He wakes up some morning and he can’t open his eyes. He has built up a tolerance to sudafed, benedryl, Zertyic (I think that’s what it’s called!) and a bunch of other medicines… so they moved him onto Singular. That only works half the time for him. :-\ He’s miserable in allergy season, though. I feel bad for him.
Although, I’m glad it’s him and not me! Such a caring girlfriend, I am. :-p
I am the opposite of you. I didn’t have any allergies growing up, but as I get older they come on stronger and stronger. headaches, sore throat, tired. I constantly feel as though I am on the edge of an illness for about 3 months. We are just starting to get into it here. I am not even sure what I am allergic to. I had an allergy test done when I was like 3-4 and not one since. The only thing I know for sure is allergic to bees.
It’s not even allergy season up here in PA but mine are starting to act up already. For me the worst part is the itchy eyes- its get so bad I want to rip my eyeballs out of my head. My eyes get swollen and red and itch so bad. Claratin works most of the time, but if I take it daily for a few weeks, it tends to make my head foggy and make me feel really sluggish.
We suffer with allergies here pretty much year-round (in eastern NC) but this time of year and hay fever season are even WORSE.
And those bradford pear trees smell AWFUL. But I’ve heard that only on “gender” smells, the other one doesn’t — but I cannot explain further because I do not understand how trees are male and female! (and I don’t really care one way or the other, I just hate the smell.)
I’m like you, my allergies, thankfully, faded with my youth (that sounds sad, and makes me sound old. I’m not!) except when I was pregnant. And we were living in Amsterdam, and they have NOTHING for allergies over there. NOTHING. That was basically hell. But every since popping GIrl! out, it’s been manageable again. My husb, however, can get so bad, there are days he can’t go to work, or hell even get out of bed. the only thing that helps him are lots of showers and lots of tissues and the alka seltzer that knocks yo ass out! He even gets allergy shots, but before they really start to take effect, we go through at least one week of THAT hell. GIrl! while only 19 months, seems to have, sadly, taken more after her father, but she’s also got a mess of indoor allergies, and for us, the only solution is to be balls to the wall ninja about keeping the hosue clean and constantly (like 4-6 times a day) cleaning her nasal passages with saline spray and the asperator. Seriosuly? I have the onyl kid who sees teh blue sucker thing and literally says “AHHH!!” However, at her 18month visit, they did say something about possibly goign the shot route with her as well, but first I want to see how she fares this Spring, which as not quite sprung here up north.
NC is also hit pretty hard. The Hubby sells allergy meds for a pharma company, so I just sniff and try to smile. I’m on meds to keep it under bay for the most part. I am with you on the Bradford Pear trees - beautiful, but stinky. Hope the Zoot’s are feeling better soon!
My two year old suffers from allergies, she is on Zyrtec daily. Stuff has been in bloom here in Raleigh for the past couple of weeks.
I can’t think of a way to phrase this delicately, so delete if you need to: but Bradford pears smell like someone should have changed their panties awhile ago.
@dcfullest - Heh. AMEN.
I always thought Bradford Pears smelled like fish…but I guess that’s the same thing that dcfullest said. Heh.
And we are allergy-sufferers here too. The Bradford Pear blooms don’t bother me as the tree next door that has the “pollen danglies” (as DS calls them). I don’t know what it is but it messes us up!
I don’t think I have ever smelled a Bradford Pear tree. However, when we lived in Houston there was a certain tree in our neighborhood that had that stale, musty smell. It went so well with the blanket of humidity that hung over us often. We are in San Antonio now and it is a bit more drier - no funky smells. Lots of Cedar trees though and they wreak havoc on everyone. Cedar allergies make you feel lethargic, congested, you can’t breathe through one or both of your nostrils, and then it winds up in your chest for a few weeks to make you sound like a chronic smoker. Lovely.
This close to the Pacific Ocean allergies are not a big problem. Also, we don’t have any. I don’t think there are any Bradford Pear trees around here.
I’m usually a lurker, but I had to comment on the Bradford Pear trees because it is such a joke around here. I’m with dcfullest–how can I put this delicately?
I vividly remember being a freshman in college out walking with my roommate and another friend–both of them having recently lost their virginity. The smell of those trees was suddenly recognizable to those recently deflowered ladies. How’s that for delicate?
As for allergies–I started getting allergy shots at 8 months old. I’ve grown in and out of them ever since. The worst is the first allergy season after I’ve moved to a new place. After that, some of my immunity builds up and it’s not quite so painful.
I am officially avoiding Bradford Pears after this conversation…our eldest suffers from allergies with his allergist appt tomorrow since now he is slowly heading into the area of asthma as well. love spring, hate spring, love spring, hate spring!
I recently ended a friendship with some who had the most beautiful Bradford Pear tree in her front yard! I’ll miss that tree…
I personally don’t have any allergy problems. I’d just like to point out that here in Western NY, there are still SEVERAL inches of snow on my lawn (thankfully sidewalks and streets are now just wet — no ice or snow…for the moment).
I’d almost agree to have an allergy problem just to get the warmer spring weather that goes along with them!
Oye…Cincinnati, OH might be the nexus of the allergy universe…between the intense pollution (I do believe we’re top 10 in the US for that) and the end of winter into an intense Spring, no one can breathe over here.
Someone tried to put it delicately, but that’s never been my strong point. Everyone I know says Bradford Pears smell like jism. I don’t think that (although I agree they stink). However.. your poor end of town is just rank with them.
i love my Allegra. if they ever take it off the market i will cry.
Pictures?
Bradford Pears smell like s*x. I went to a small college that was completely surrounded by them and the smell in spring was gag inducing.
That’s the only thing about spring I’m not looking forward to - the allergies. But it has been so cold and snowy here for so long I’d rather have a sinus headache in shorts and flip flops than spend one more day with my long coat and boots.
Of course check back with me in a month when I’m miserable and want to rip the hair out of my head from the pain and see if I still feel that way. I bet after this winter I will.
Fortunately, I don’t think I have any allergies.
Except to Lip Smackers. *cries*
I see that we have covered the fact that a Bradford Pear smells like cum. In that case…I have nothing else to add….
Ah the lovely scent of Bradford Pears…every townhouse community in Northern Virginia was planted with one in front of every house - lovely!
I have horrible allergies, all year round. I had shots about 9 years ago and they were magic! They have finally just started wearing off the last couple of years so I have started back up and can already tell the difference. I have them worse than my hubby and he has already started feeling bad, sniffling, head clogged so I know I’d be in bad shape without the shots.
Good news is I learned that my insuarnce doesn’t require a co-pay for my shot visits to the doctor - yea!
Bradford pear trees are all over my in-laws’ neighborhood in NC and they STINK. They are really pretty trees but man, do they ever smell nasty.
Allergies are bad, bad, bad in Arizona now. The orange blossoms will kill you. Fortunately, the smell isn’t as bad as people are describing the pear tress to be.
Sorry about the allergies…but I am SO JEALOUS that you have trees blooming. I feel like winter is never going to end here, it’s impossible! My DH has terrible allergies, he’s having great luck with Zyrtec now that it’s available over the counter.
I don’t believe my neighbor’s pears are bradford pears, because they sure don’t smell like what you all are describing! In college we had a plethora of shit-berry trees. Obviously, that’s not the latin name for them, but these awful red berries would be crushed under our feet and when you came into the dorm room, it was ALL you could smell. OMG!
Allergies- ugh. I never knew how bad mine had gotten, and how well Zyrtec works for me, till this year when all the good allergy medicines are verboten.
I was JUST talking about Bradford Pears. For decades they have been the City tree in Bartlett, TN (near Memphis) and while they are beautiful, they are kinda funky. I’ve always thought they smell kind of like rotten fish.
But I don’t have allegy problems, so I am just able to be thankful the evil winter has lifted and I can bust out of my cocoon and live again.
Yes bradford pears stink, and yes, I’m allergic to ‘em!
My approach to controlling my allergies, from here in the midwest where it’s too early yet, is that I’m ok with an antihistamine nearly daily (currently use zyrtec, have used claritin and allegra in the past). Once I have to start adding in the sprays for more than a couple week stint in early June (cottonwood season sucks), I head back in for another round of shots. I’m not into multiple drugs for months at a time. I’ve done the shots twice now. Never had any problems until my late teens, so that’s shots twice between 18 and 33.
oh! and the trees that Professor Art Nerd is referring to are gingkos! Both my undergrad campus and current campus have them. Definitely only the female trees are bad-they are the only ones with the berries. At my undergrad campus, many families (of some foreign ethnicity, not sure which) within one apartment complex cooked with the berries-think about that smell!
I don’t have allergies. Lucky me. But my husband suffers it badly. He is constantly sneezing, blowing nose. Weird that one year I went to east coast for vacation and suffered some minor allergy. So I guess I choosed the right place to live.
I live in the mountains of NM and the juniper trees are coming out. I can’t live without my daily dose of Claritin and Flonase. I also have allergy eye drops. On very windy days I feel like my head may explode.
I am with Wackky Mommy, my Allegra saves me!
We should be so lucky to have anything in bloom at this point. But it is sinus eason and even with the Allegra, mine are reacting.
I am lucky and blessed in that I don’t have any allergies - and apparently also very, very lucky that there are no Bradford Pears around here! Gross!
Stupid Bradford pears. They SUCK. Know what’s worse? The infinite amount of gum ball trees I have in the front yard. Raking and picking and dumping 2000 times a year those prickly bastards.
I invoked your name recently on the ole blog… thanks again for posting about your job situation. It helped me through a rough time.
Having lived away from the south for 8 years (after spending 22 years in Atlanta) I had totally forgotten about the Bradford pears!!! Hated the smell, love the reminder–so thanks!
And allergies–blech. I was allergic to just about everything. In second grade I was allowed to wear pink Strawberry Shortcake sunglasses during PE because my eyes itched so much–I was quite the little fashionista. And then eight allergy shots two times a week all through teen years. Yuck.
On the upside, only a few plants get me out west!
I will probably feel differently about this in a few weeks when things actually start to bloom in Minnesota, but right now I am just jealous that you HAVE spring. We might have a shorter allergy season, but this year I’d trade it for a break in the weather.
We have tons of Bradford Pears here in the Dallas area and they do STINK!!!!!! And that make me look like a I have constant cold.
Oh my gosh. I get the WORST allergies! I take an anti-histamine and nasal spray every day and its still only as good as most people’s average allergies. When I don’t take anything, I pretty much look like I have a cold constantly…its not even seasonal. Grr.
I am so glad that someone else has noticed that those trees STINK. I have to change my jogging route this time of year to avoid them. Most people I know have never noticed the smell.