South of the South

Pollen. What I used to gather in the street as a kid and crumble into dust, for fun, is now the bane of my existence. The coastal breeze was always pushing the pollen west of town, and pulling in the salt air to satiate my sinuses. I was free to unintentionally inhale all the allergens my lungs couldn’t ask for.

One of the first things I noticed after moving to Orlando was the dead, stagnant air. This was the first time in 18 years of living in New York and Southern Florida that I woke up each morning more than 5 miles from the Atlantic. On top of that,  enormous Southern Live Oaks replaced the skinny, leafless Palm trees that dominate South Florida. It’s incredibly easy to take something as seemingly insignifcant as a palm tree for granted when you’re on the opposite end of hindsight. You could never know that in the future, you’ll want to be surrounded by this tropical pleasure to get away from the air that tries to choke the life out of you for four months out of the year.

I want my paradise back. I want to breathe again.