Anyone else get those allergies that come with the change of the seasons?

Ugh, they get me all the time.

I am not talking about the kind of seasonal allergies that come with pollen, abundance of ragweed, bean dust, or anything else in the air, although, I do have issues with those, as well but that is for another day.

I am talking about the kind of allergies that come with the transition of the seasons. The kind that leaves us feeling dumpy or unmotivated and kind of sad as we see the trees, grass, and [sigh], well just about anything as everything we have enjoyed all summer long transition to brown, orange, and all other colors from the bright reds, yellows, purple, greens as well as so many other changes that happen right before our eyes.

In the military, when something happens that saddens us or maybe just makes us so happy that the tears flow, we call it, “Marine allergies” that is where my analogy of my “Seasonal allergies” come from. Like when a Marine returns home from deployment or a family spends Thanksgiving away from their Marine because he/she is deployed, those Marine allergies are just unstoppable sometimes.

 “Seasonal change allergies” happen to some of us and then there are some people who go through the seasons with such ease and then there are those, that struggle emotionally, physically, and mentally. The “seasonal change allergies” gets them feeling low.

I have always been one that “feels” the seasons, although, the fall season can be one of my favorite ones of the year, it is also the intro to winter, which if it wasn’t for the chance of having a white Christmas, I could do without.

I do not know if it is me just reflecting on the summer activities and then going into the fall activities, but every year, I feel it. When my boys were younger it was a mixture of hesitancy of like, I don’t want this time to end and as well as the excitement for what the fall season would bring.  The change of season from summer to fall meant going back to school, football season, pumpkin patches, harvest and so much more.

The going back to school part was always hard for me as some parents would be so excited to have their kids back into a routine and in school, but initially, when the school mail or emails would come, I would hesitate to even open them, like if not opening them, meant the boys would not have to go. My own denial mechanism to cope with change, I suppose.

We loved our summers as it meant being outside past dark and coming in so dirty that the bathtub was left with a ring of dirt by the drain, especially by the time 3 boys all went through the shower. As the boys grew summer activities changed, but no matter their age, they would still love to play in the dirt and just enjoy those long days outside. It went from summer baseball, playing with tractors in the dirt, dirt bikes and more to dirt tracks with sprint cars and using tractors for work and along with summer comes irrigating. So many memories.

Now that my boys are grown men and our back to school is more like back to college for a few, and our football watching is NFL and college ball, the changes of the season outdoors, along with so many other changes has left me feeling the “change of seasons allergies” all alone.

There are most certainly things that I do love about the fall season. I do love the colors and love to see the leaves transition from bright green to yellow and some red. I love watching the leaves fall from the trees, a cool crisp morning when you can see your breath when outdoors and then by afternoon it being so warm that the sweatshirt worn in the morning is shed. I love a cup of pumpkin spice coffee or pumpkin anything, really. I love a good soft but heavy oversized sweatshirt. I love that on most early fall days we can still wear shorts. I know that is silly, but I love weather that shorts are part of the wardrobe for that season. I also love to decorate for the fall season. Just put a pumpkin here and there and some leaves garland with acorns and gourds. I love harvest time, as stressful as it can be, but it gives us that reward feeling from all our time and hard work that we have put forth from March on. It is definitely a different feeling all around.

So, all in all, I have some things that I do love about the fall season, but with every change of season we know it is another year of change and the unexpected and I think that is what brings my “seasonal allergies” around.

To help with those woes and feelings of sadness, I am going to focus on the good and just live for the day, as when I look ahead that is where the “allergies” kick in. When we worry about tomorrows and the unknowns, we may feel hopeless.

It is nice to have Thanksgiving in the fall season, as a reminder to be grateful and to not get wrapped up in our “man-made” sorrows and dwellings. When our “seasonal allergies” kick in, we should take time to be grateful for what we have and not what we want or don’t have.

Now, I must go take my allergy medicine to keep my other seasonal allergies away…Ah-choo!

God bless to all that know exactly how I feel.