Article July 23, 2007 Issue

SAY GOODBYE TO ALLERGIES

BY GWEN BEACHAM

When I was in fifth grade, my class had a picnic at a lake near our school. Beyond the groomed lawns and the picnic tables was a field of very tall, uncut grass. A friend and I went there to play, gathering handfuls of the long-stemmed grass, waving them at one another, and generally romping about in it. When our teacher happened by, she casually commented, "I'm glad neither of you has allergies."

I didn't know anything about allergies, having never experienced them, so I asked my friend what they were. After hearing her explanation, I experienced an allergic reaction almost immediately, and from that point on, I was plagued with severe allergies whenever I encountered grass pollen.

The following year, my family moved to a farm. Every spring and summer, when the hay fields surrounding the farm began to emit pollen, the allergies would appear with a vengeance.