In the Spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of...

By Jamie Hill

Ragweed? With apologies to Lord Alfred Tennyson, this was originally supposed to be a romantic post about Springtime, and all the mush that goes with it. Unfortunately, ever since the thermometer hit 80 degrees (F) I've been suffering with a case of watery eyes and runny nose. Not a cold, although it could be since we've had 30 degree weather one day and 80 the next, but the dreaded 'a' word: allergies.














As a kid, I had the usual minor symptoms, but nothing like my two sisters who suffered from Asthma and Hayfever, and required shots and inhalers to manage. I got by with over the counter meds until I was probably ten or so, and started noticing every time I was around a cat my eyes watered profusely. Hence, the trip to the allergy clinic in another town, which at first seemed like a cool way to miss a day of school. Was I ever wrong about that.

Hopefully, clinical allergy testing methods have improved over the last number of years. In the olden days, I sat with a medical gown held up to my chest, open in the rear to expose my soon to be tortured back. In theory, the tests involved injecting various allergens under my skin to see which ones I reacted too. In reality, the practitioner stuck a needle sideways under my skin and pulled it straight up...pop. And then she did it again. A whole row down my back.

Then came the cool, soothing marker which she used to put dots down the next row of my back. Then the needle...pop, pop, pop. Repeat for several rows. I was in tears by the time she finished. The results didn't thrill me to pieces, either.

I had a few allergies. Cats (wah!) but not dogs, thankfully. (My mother would have had to choose between me and her tiny toy poodle.) Cows (not a problem, hamburger was fine), horses (love them in theory but never spent any time with them), ragweed and....are you ready for this? Dust. That's right, dust. Every day my mom dusted my room (God bless her) and we tried a series of different pills to see which helped. It was a crapshoot, really, and I finally ended up with something like Sudafed that came over the counter. As long as I avoided the animals and my mother cleaned everyplace I went before I went there, I was good.

Fortunately for mom, my sisters and I grew out of the allergies. My sister with asthma has occasional flare ups, the the rest of us can control whatever seasonal problems we have fairly easily.

Until this year.

I haven't beeh hit with symptoms like these in ages. My eyes itch and burn, and water like crazy for no reason. My nose runs inexplicably and at the most inopportune moments. I burned through a pack of Sudafed the first week and switched to DayQuil and Sudafed alternately the second week. Nada. Someone suggested I might try Claritin, and I mentioned to my husband that I'd have to get some the next time I went to the store.

He immediately got up, grabbed his keys and left. He came back with Claritin, which has been my salvation, and a smile. Now that's love.

Oh hey, this is a romantic blog post afterall!
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Just a quick reminder, The first book in my new series from TEB debuts today. Switching Seth is book one in the Rose & Thorn Society Series. These books will be stand alone titles with the same backdrop, the BDSM club Rose & Thorn Society.

Welcome to the Rose & Thorn Society, where the scent of submission is sweet.

Find Switching Seth here. Enjoy!