Spring in Atlanta or a Mustard Gas Attack?

Pollen is here, originally uploaded by biroschik2000.

I took this picture as I was walking back to my car after jury duty. See the green mortar between the bricks? That’s no mortar, it’s pollen! See the green covering the bricks? Same thing. Thus begins the nightmare two or three weeks in the spring when Atlanta is drenched in pollen.

The pollen haze is one of two things that drive me crazy about Atlanta – rush hour traffic is the other. I cannot say which is worse. Traffic is year round, but the pollen fills the sky with a caustic haze that burns your nose and throat. It reminds me of the tear gas I smelled (from a great distance of course) when the police had to disperse the rowdy street crowd at a long ago Carbondale Halloween party.

Did I mention I have jury duty? That means I know how to choose. Or, as the judge told all of the potential jurors, I am “an upright and intelligent citizen.” I reluctantly choose traffic as being the greater of Atlanta’s two evils.

I can type no more into this cell phone – I want to go home.