Texas Springtime

Spring has sprung in North Texas, and along with it comes allergy season. Actually, allergy season is year-round here, but it’s especially bad during this time of year.

Everything is blooming. Pollens lead to sinus infections and bronchitis. Sinus congestion, runny nose, itchy eyes, coughing, sneezing, headaches, and all the fixin’s run amok–as in EVERYONE gets SOMETHING. A common phrase heard around here is “I’m not contagious. It’s just allergies.” If you are writing about a North Texas springtime, be sure to give your characters a “spring cold.” It is especially attractive–sexy even–for a romance. Trust me. If you don’t–well, you just ain’t writing about Texas.

The pollens depend entirely on the direction of the wind–mostly from the west, but we get north and south winds, too. Sometimes at the same time. That’s when our weather gets really interesting. Don’t forget to add a weekly cold front that drops the temperature twenty degrees or so and stirs up a thunderstorm or two–or at the very least 30 mph winds that freeze your buns off even if it’s sixty-five degrees out. If you want to keep your work true to nature, you can throw in a tornado or even have it snow on Easter in April. (The snow and low temps went away fast, but it did happen in the early 2000s–I couldn’t find the exact year, sorry.)

Once this part of the year is over, then Texans look forward to ragweed. And summer. YAY!

T.