What a great experience you had working on the farm! I mean, except for the excruciating allergies. But besides that, I think it’s pretty cool that you had a love for working in the dirt at such a young age. I didn’t come to it until recently.
I have seasonal allergies as well, but they are concentrated to March and April. Before I discovered Claritin-D, life was pretty miserable during those months. I also had tried all sorts of herbal tinctures and found that they didn’t work.
Also, love that photo of your uncle in the 70s with his sunglasses on. What a time capsule of that era! I love and miss film photography.
I also wanted to say that I hope my response to your 4 ideas for earworm stories didn't come off as dismissive. It's just hard for me to pick for you! I will say, though, that the Mountain Goats one did stand out a bit for me...
Thanks, Jen! It's funny you say I discovered my love of working in the dirt at a young age, because I thought I was so old! Until finding ALM farms when I was 27 I rarely ate vegetables, let alone knew how to grow any. I didn't go into it in the piece but I ended up staying there until the end of December, when it got too cold to do any work on the farm. Also, a border crossing experience on my way back to Vancouver after attending a wedding in Portland required me to sign a document saying I'd leave the country by the end of the year. That story will be its own Earworm post one day!
I enjoyed reading this. I thought my allergies were bad but this is something else -- I feel for you. Glad you found a way to keep them more or less at bay (or, at least, distract them with something enjoyable). A case of “good for your mind, body, and soul”.
Thanks Andres! The bongo-farm experience was many years ago but it’s effects are still felt today. Luckily my allergies were never that bad (except for maybe once) again. And meds have seriously improved since then too!
This was a great read! I don't have much to add here except that I can really really relate to your allergy woes. Mine peaked in 8-9th grade, and stayed elevated until my 20's. They got better when I moved to the Midwest, but not by much. While I was trying to avoid teachers accusing me of being stoned (they were a couple of years early), I was in a band. We did mostly covers, but 2 of them were Cactus (off Surfer Rosa), and Caribou (Come On Pilgrim).
Thanks, Kevin! I knew it was going to be a tough one to write, not only a long one. And now I've broken my longest read time by six minutes! You might be the only one to make it to the end without unsubscribing! I love Pixies first 4 albums so much. As I write here, Surfer Rosa holds an especially huge place in my heart. There are few songs that can pump me up more than "Vamos."
What a great experience you had working on the farm! I mean, except for the excruciating allergies. But besides that, I think it’s pretty cool that you had a love for working in the dirt at such a young age. I didn’t come to it until recently.
I have seasonal allergies as well, but they are concentrated to March and April. Before I discovered Claritin-D, life was pretty miserable during those months. I also had tried all sorts of herbal tinctures and found that they didn’t work.
Also, love that photo of your uncle in the 70s with his sunglasses on. What a time capsule of that era! I love and miss film photography.
I also wanted to say that I hope my response to your 4 ideas for earworm stories didn't come off as dismissive. It's just hard for me to pick for you! I will say, though, that the Mountain Goats one did stand out a bit for me...
Thanks, Jen! It's funny you say I discovered my love of working in the dirt at a young age, because I thought I was so old! Until finding ALM farms when I was 27 I rarely ate vegetables, let alone knew how to grow any. I didn't go into it in the piece but I ended up staying there until the end of December, when it got too cold to do any work on the farm. Also, a border crossing experience on my way back to Vancouver after attending a wedding in Portland required me to sign a document saying I'd leave the country by the end of the year. That story will be its own Earworm post one day!
I enjoyed reading this. I thought my allergies were bad but this is something else -- I feel for you. Glad you found a way to keep them more or less at bay (or, at least, distract them with something enjoyable). A case of “good for your mind, body, and soul”.
Thanks Andres! The bongo-farm experience was many years ago but it’s effects are still felt today. Luckily my allergies were never that bad (except for maybe once) again. And meds have seriously improved since then too!
It’s interesting because it probably gave you some sort of release that was clearly needed. And I’m glad things improved over the years :)
This was a great read! I don't have much to add here except that I can really really relate to your allergy woes. Mine peaked in 8-9th grade, and stayed elevated until my 20's. They got better when I moved to the Midwest, but not by much. While I was trying to avoid teachers accusing me of being stoned (they were a couple of years early), I was in a band. We did mostly covers, but 2 of them were Cactus (off Surfer Rosa), and Caribou (Come On Pilgrim).
Thanks, Kevin! I knew it was going to be a tough one to write, not only a long one. And now I've broken my longest read time by six minutes! You might be the only one to make it to the end without unsubscribing! I love Pixies first 4 albums so much. As I write here, Surfer Rosa holds an especially huge place in my heart. There are few songs that can pump me up more than "Vamos."
Great read! And great writing!
Thanks Felicia! it’s going to be my writing for our group on Monday so you just got a sneak peek...