Attack of the New Mexico Germs

Up high in the beautiful forested mountains of New Mexico, I sit here at what is essentially bible camp for college kids, loving this week but hating my body's reactions to the transition from winter to spring. I wonder if it has to do with my location, but I have a feeling that if I were anywhere else, my runny nose and watery eyes would still persist because ... gasp! I suspect that I am developing allergies.

It started out with what seemed like the common cold. Last Thursday was when I began the nasal decongestant meds and vitamin C uptake, along with a dose of good ol' chicken noodle soup for lunch. I was determined to not bring this state of groggyness with me, but I didn't have much of a choice. The car ride up really sucked because we were going up and down intense elevation levels and the crap in my head was compounding and building up pressure. Day one of camp had me blowing buckets of that crap out of my nose every two minutes - astonishing me as something that could even happen. I thought, "Where does it all come from?? Surely that's not what resides in my skull, where most people have brains." And I thought everyone else was thinking, "Good Lord, that girl is never going to stop blowing her nose!" The afternoon arrived and the skin around my nose was completely raw and broken: Major ouch. Good thing I brought my neosporin.

Day two presents me with a different challenge - drainage is not as constant, but in its place comes the intense tickling of the inside of my nose. This is mainly the reason I'm starting to think I have allergies. We'll be sitting in a session listening to people talk about a passage and I don't have to do anything but breathe just like every other normal human being, when all of the sudden foreign germs begin their attack on my immune system, which takes the form of an electric fence jolting maniacally in defense. You know that feeling - very similar to when you're about to sneeze and you have to scrunch up your nose and just wait for it to go away. Except it doesn't! Not until the floods start pouring out of my eyes, tears, like the rain falling from clouds after the thunder and lightning strike. I'm just sitting here with my bible in the middle of nothing really emotionally deep, yet I appear to be weeping uncontrollably at every little word that I read. Not the case, people! Nothing is upsetting me except the physical intruders that don't get along with my nose hairs.

The decongestant meds continue, but now I wish I had some allergy stuff to go along with that. Hopefully this bout of itchy/runny nose goes away soon, and maybe next year if the same thing happens, I'll be prepared, and officially diagnose myself as someone with legitimate allergies. Until then, I will continue to delve into the wonders of manuscript study with my peers and friends, with the occasional zipline through the woods and bonfire with smores on the side. Did I mention tomorrow we are going to Santa Fe? Yeah, this trip is awesome. To be continued when I get back . . .