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“Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
March 2,2023
From the Staff
The not-so-secret life of pollen
Pollen woes start up early thanks to warm winter
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
On Monday morning I received an
email from pollen.com saying on that
day, February 27th, the allergy alert level
in Pickens County would be “high” at
9.7. Top allergens now, it noted, are alder,
juniper, and elm. By Tuesday, pollen.com
expected it to rise to a 10. And on
Wednesday, when I’m outside delivering
papers, it’s expected to hit 10.7 (out of a
high of 12). Great.
Personally, I didn’t need an email to
tell me that allergy season is already
upon us. I’ve been feeling it in my
scratchy eyes, nose and throat for a cou
ple of weeks now.
According to the National Allergy
Forecast, 14 percent of the country is in
low-medium status. It is, of course,
worse for us southerners. Coming in at
the top of “today’s worst cities” for al
lergy sufferers on Monday, were the
southern cities of New Orleans,
Louisiana; Laredo, Texas; Baton Rouge,
Louisiana; Orlando, Florida and Shreve
port, Louisiana.
While Jasper, Georgia may not appear
on the top 10 list yet, it’s approaching.
And like a good weather forecaster, my
nose knows.
While many people may love the
spring blooms of loropetalum and cherry
trees budding out following a cold, bleak
and rainy winter, those blooms bring a
bevy of itchy noses, scratchy throats and
watery eyes to us poor souls that have
spring allergies. Not to mention what that
yellow pine pollen will do to our cars in
a few weeks.
Pollen hasn’t even waited for the offi
cial start of spring on March 20th to
begin sending waves of a potential 67
million Americans to the drug store to try
any combination of nose drops, eye
drops, and antihistamines to abate our
suffering.
Georgia’s pollen season may peak in
early to mid-April, but the arrival of tree
pollens in Georgia starts early. Typically
beginning in late February, the allergy
season can stretch until June when grass
and weed pollen add to the pollen counts.
All of this means the pleasure we take in
our perfect southern temperatures and
weather for outdoor activities can be se
riously curtailed.
Runny noses, sore throats, coughing,
headaches, and lots and lots of mucus (
to use a polite word) are what we have to
look forward to. Those symptoms can be
serious enough for some of us to literally
curse at “fresh air.”
If you are one of the relatively few
folks who get by the spring allergy sea
son unscathed, enjoy it and when you
meet the rest of us out there with red, wa
tery eyes, don’t run away from us be
cause we look like one of the zombies
from The Walking Dead. Just take pity
and count your blessings you aren’t one
of us.
Hayfever is such a cruel ailment.
There should be nothing more joyous
than spending time outdoors after being
stuck inside all winter. Enjoying a picnic
in the grass, eating spring delicacies and
sleeping away the afternoon, reading a
good book, or playing in a pickup game
of basketball or pickleball. But for those
of us who can’t take being outside inhal
ing all those fluorescent particles, it’s
miserable. Sure we’d rather be out enjoy
ing a relaxing day in the sun (or rain
even) but that just turns into a tortuous
experience, seen only through teary eyes
and a perpetually runny nose.
The pollencasters may be our only re
maining friends at the end of this season
- no one will talk to us because our eyes
are streaming and our nostrils red from
nose-blowing - even though we buy the
Puffs Plus with Lotion. To our fellow suf
ferers, take heart and just remember -
only a few more months of misery.
So while our allergies may put us
among the worst places to live each
spring, I’m not ready to jump ship and
head to “today’s best cities” as cited by
pollen.com: Aberdeen, SD; Williston,
ND; Jamestown, ND; Fargo, ND; and
Grand Forks, ND.
Those places can have it easy from the
pollen, I like Jasper.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
Caleb Smith
Me, Myself,
and I
I like to be alone. Don’t
get me wrong, I don’t want to
move into the woods and to
tally separate myself from
humanity like a crazy person.
But I would be okay with
moving to a cabin on top of a
mountain somewhere and
only coming into town twice
a year for supplies. Maybe
once a year. A little social in
teraction goes a long way.
That doesn’t mean that I
don’t like other people, far
from it. In fact, I generally
think other people are a good
idea. I am just content with
my own company. Which is
fortunate because other peo
ple rarely are.
Few things make me hap
pier than to come home from
a long day of work, and sink
into my recliner in complete
solitude. No conversation, no
interaction, just blissful si
lence and maybe a good
book.
That’s not to say that I
don’t get lonely from time to
time. Fortunately, I am a
pretty good conversationalist
and I am a captive audience,
so sometimes I talk to my
self. Sometimes I even reply
to myself. I rarely argue with
me, we see pretty much eye
to eye on most things, but my
conversations have been
known to get heated.
Once I got into a fight
with me and didn’t talk to
myself for weeks. We even
tually made up and are once
more on speaking terms, but
I’ll admit I enjoyed the quiet
time when I wasn’t on speak
ing terms with myself.
From time to time I find
myself longing for social in
teraction. Usually I sit down
and it passes pretty quickly,
but other times there’s noth
ing for it but to go out and
mingle with the rest of the
world. I’ve been told I look
like a newborn deer when I
emerge from my den, blink
ing at the sun.
Like a deer, it’s best to ap
proach me slowly, speak in
low tones, and offer me food.
In 10 minutes I’ll be eating
out of your hand. Literally, if
you have donuts. Usually a
few hours is more than
enough to charge my social
battery, and I’m more than
content to avoid any more so
cial interactions for a few
months.
A lot can be said for being
alone. Like most things, too
much is probably not healthy.
That’s being said, too much
socialization probably isn’t
healthy either.
I think there needs to be a
happy medium. Socialize,
sure, but be content to be
with yourself as well. If you
have a problem being alone
with yourself, that might
mean there’s something
wrong in your life.
Or maybe you’re just a
jerk.
[Caleb Smith is a resident
of a ramshackle cabin on an
undisclosed mountain top.
He can be reached at jcaleb-
smith90@yahoo.com.]
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia.
Entered at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia 30143
as Mail Matter of Second Class.
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#lbe H>d)ciol
Other Voices - Cocaine Bear, once again
Hollywood exploits bears for profit,
says N. Ga. bear group
Submitted by Appalachia
Georgia Friends of the
Bears
As if we do not have
enough human issues when it
comes to Human-Bear Con
flict, Hollywood once again
adds fuel to the fire by their
latest bear exploitation film
Cocaine Bear. Educating hu
mans against the myths,
stereotypes, and outright lies
about black bears is difficult
enough without the sensa
tionalism of the media and
Hollywood using their end
less resources to pile on to
what is a human problem.
The movie is loosely
based on a series of crimes
committed by a former U.S.
Army paratrooper, Lexing
ton, Kentucky Narcotic Task
member, attorney, and appar
ent adrenaline junkie. His
criminal career culminated in
his failed attempt to para
chute to safety from his
smuggling aircraft on Sep
tember 11, 1985. The only
basis in fact that the movie or
the real incident have in com
mon is that a male American
Black Bear ingested cocaine
in a remote section of Fannin
County. In reality, the 175
lbs., not 500 lbs., bear died
within minutes of eating ap
proximately 20 grams of co
caine, not going on a cocaine
fueled killing spree.
The American public is al
ready poorly informed and
ignorant when it comes to
wildlife, but especially black
bears. We are already con
cerned that our residents and
visitors will overreact when
they encounter one in the
wild and harm the bear.
Consider this, since 1970,
only 140 humans have been
killed by Polar, Brown, and
Black Bears in the wild, cir
cuses, privately owned, and
in zoos in North America
since 1970. In comparison,
1,407 humans died in car ac
cidents in Georgia just in
2022 alone. From 2010-
2022, 618 humans died be
cause of fatal dog attacks in
the U.S. From 2017-2022,
231 children died in the U.S.
because their parent or
Spot an error,
let our editor know.
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW RAIN
Feb.
21
71
58
.00
Feb.
22
77
59
.00
Feb.
23
68
59
.36
Feb.
24
69
51
.09
Feb.
25
54
50
.24
Feb.
26
60
51
.00
Feb.
27
69
47
.92
AGFOB Founder & CEO GeraldD. Hodge, Jr. collect
ing a premolar tooth from a male 150 lbs. Black Bear road-
kill in Dawson County, July 2020.
guardian left them in a hot
car.
Be educated. If you en
counter a bear in the wild, do
not panic. If you see it before
it sees you, stop, then quietly
and slowly back away while
facing the bear. If the bear
sees you, hold up your arms
to make yourself look bigger
and yell, “Hey bear!” until it
leaves. If you have a child
with you, hold them by the
hand and keep them close.
Maintain control of your dog.
Keep it on a leash or leave it
at home.
Do not allow it to interact
with the bear. If you are with
a group, stand close together.
Never, ever run. This may
trigger their chase instinct.
Have bear spray on your per
son, easily accessible, and
know how to use it. If the
black bear makes physical
contact with you, do not play
dead, and aggressively fight
back.
Encourage family and
friends to rely on trusted
sources to educate them
about wildlife and our Amer
ican Black Bears. Your cor
rect knowledge will likely
save a bear’s life.
The Appalachia Georgia
Friends of the Bears is a
501(c)(3) non-profit whose
mission is to reduce Human-
Bear conflict through proac
tive educational outreach
programs, increasing public
awareness about coexisting
with black bears, the use of
humane bear deterrents, and
advocacy. Visit them at
https://agfriendsofthe-
bears.com or their partners at
BearWise.org.
Spot an error,
let our editor
know.
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
V. (844)651-1231
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