April 24, 2025: Allergies, Dandelions, and Baseball Season
Here’s a cleaned-up version of your recording rewritten into a blog post! I kept your casual, natural voice but shaped it into a format that flows for reading:
April 24, 2025: Allergies, Dandelions, and Baseball Season
Last night, I decided to take a Benadryl around 9:30 before bed, thinking it would knock me out. Spoiler: it didn’t. I couldn’t fall asleep for almost two hours. I thought Benadryl was supposed to make you drowsy? Apparently not when you actually need it.
I woke up feeling a little off—not exactly groggy, but definitely with a swollen left tonsil. Maybe a little sleepy, too. I should mention, I took one of the capsule versions instead of the classic little pink ones. Maybe the pink ones work better for sleep? Something to investigate.
Now that I’m up and moving, my throat feels a bit better. Earlier, it was like every time I swallowed, it felt dry and sticky on that left side. Once I got some saliva flowing, it started to feel normal again. Allergy season, man. Every year around this time it’s the same. I usually take Claritin, but I’m wondering if it’s time to switch over to Zyrtec.
Also, while I’m dictating this (hands-free, don’t worry), can I just say: everyone needs to mow their damn grass.
There are dandelions everywhere—billions of them. I haven’t seen it this bad in years. Every yard is covered in those little white puffballs. I’ve been trying to take walks on my lunch breaks, but today? Forget it. The air quality must be through the roof with all this stuff floating around.
At this rate, Walmart's going to sell out of weed and feed by the weekend. Seriously, the dandelions have evolved like something out of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II. Mutant dandelions. They're winning the evolutionary war—figured out how to flower themselves into every single lawn in town. Respect, but also: gross.
You know, the older I get, the more I get why people care about their lawns. Part of it's probably the whole “keeping up with the Joneses” thing—nobody wants to be the one house with a lawn full of dandelions and weeds. But I swear, there must be some chemical that switches on in your brain around a certain age that makes you care about this stuff.
On the upside: it’s green. Everywhere you look, it’s green. The trees have bloomed, the grass is thriving, and winter is finally behind us. Spring is here, and summer’s just around the corner.
Speaking of summer, I'm really hoping we find easy access to a pool this year. We don't have a town pool anymore, so it'll take a little effort. Worst case, I’m not above using a little fake tanner. If it's good enough for the president, it's good enough for me.
We've got a busy sports schedule this summer too:
Volleyball on weekend afternoons
Baseball two nights a week after school
I’m actually looking forward to the kids’ baseball games. It’s the perfect sport for hanging out and chatting with the other parents because of all the downtime between pitches. Soccer and basketball are fun, but they're way more fast-paced. Baseball gives you those nice little breaks where you can actually have a conversation.
Sure, sometimes it’s a lot of sitting on uncomfortable bleachers shouting, “Good job! Straighten it out! You got this!” while you wait for your kid to bat. Sometimes it’s cheering a walk, sometimes it’s feeling bad for a kid who strikes out. And when they're out in the field? It’s a lot of "Come on, get under it! Move your feet!" and watching kids miss balls because, hey, they’re learning.
Honestly, when I think back to playing baseball as a kid, it felt like a lot of waiting around. You’re standing there hoping for the action to come your way. It’s no wonder some kids drift toward video games or faster-paced activities.
Which brings me to a bigger thought I had:
Every generation has its “big thing.” For our grandparents, it was cars—manufacturing, building, driving. For our parents, it was music, media, and cultural revolutions. For Gen X and Millennials? It’s video games, technology, and the internet.
And here’s the kicker: every time, the older generation doubts the new thing.
"Automobiles won’t be better than a strong horse." Wrong.
"Music and TV are just distractions." Wrong.
"Video games are a waste of time." Wrong again.
The big industries of today—the ones creating jobs, innovation, and entire cultures—come straight from what kids loved the most when they were growing up.
So if you’re ever tempted to roll your eyes at the next "big dumb thing" kids are into? Maybe don’t. It might just be the next billion-dollar industry.
