National Honey Month

We are dying here, people.

Okay. So that is dramatic. But the misery is there at least on some level. Aaron, Janice and myself are all suffering from terrible seasonal allergies. Yep. it's that time of year again, folks. This is the time of year when I really want the frost to come and kill everything, but at the same time, I am dreading those cold temperatures because I really hate winter. This internal struggle is tricky.

I used to have really bad fall allergies at Bluffton.I was really hoping that growing up in Illinois would grant me some immunity to the ragweed in this state, since, you know, it's in my blood... or something. No such luck. They feel about the same as they did at Bluffton. awesome. (Actually, I am really missing Chicago, especially in the mornings and evenings when my nose is at its worst, because even though I was aware of my allergies there, they were nowhere near as bad as they are down here in the dang open lands).

Excuse me while I blow my nose. Or maybe take out my eyeballs and scratch them. How is that for imagery? Delicious, I know.

I've heard different people mention that if one eats local honey, it is supposed to help reduce ones reaction to allergies. I feel like this makes sense. So without making any attempts to research this possibility, I decided that my next goal for localized living in Morton was to find out where I could buy local honey. After all, if anything will help me stop sneezing, I'm for it because I think all this allergy medicine I am taking is just sugar and water.

I was at the library this morning working on lovely resumes, (which no one will ever read). After I decided that I had enough, I tried googling "local honey + central Illinois," which, according to google, means Chicago. This happens every time I am trying to google something in this area. Most of the websites that pop up first are for Chicagoland. ugh. That is not helpful or local. I was tried of being on the screen so I gave up really quickly and headed out. But before I made it to the door, I noticed a whole shelf dedicated to honey and bees. Above it was a sign that read: National Honey Month (which is actually September, not August. No worries, you still have time to celebrate). On a whim, I decided to ask the lady at the information desk if she knew where I could buy local honey. She told me to check out the produce stand in Farm n' Fleet's parking lot. (This is awesome on so many levels. 1. This was not a book question and she knew the answer (this is why I want to be a librarian) 2. I found out there is nearby, local produce stand that is open everyday!).

Later, I drove out there and sure enough, my librarian friend was right. The man was selling honey. Well actually, only two sad looking jars. But for six bucks, one of those babies was mine. (I also bought some plums.)

I never really know what to do with honey. Unless it's creamed honey I don't really like it on bread (well unless it's cornbread). I use it when I make granola, but since I probably won't do that while living here, my only other option is to drink it in tea. So tonight, I sipped down some tazo blueberry tea (which is a white tea) with a spoonful of honey in it. It was really average. I don't really like white tea and I don't really like honey in my tea but can only deal with either of those things if they are together. But I am willing to keep this routine up every evening and see if, after a few weeks have gone by, if this makes any difference to my nose or not. This could be all mental. But I believe in the power of my brain and the ability of this thing to work. So we'll see.

In the meanwhile, happy national honey month. May all your honey endeavors be local.

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