allergy season

Right now I'm in the worst part of allergy season. I'm on so much medication to remain semi-functional that I can no longer tell which symptoms are side-effects and which are regular old symptoms. Being environmentally friendly isn't exactly my number 1 priority at the moment. To give you some perspective, getting the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and the pile of dirty dishes into the newly emptied machine was a huge accomplishment, over due by several days. I decided to tackle the task simply because I was stuck in the kitchen for the 1 minute it took my dinner to heat in the microwave. Yes, I did buy macaroni and cheese that I could heat up in 1 minute so that I wouldn't have to actually cook. But, I bought the kind that is made locally, by the people who run the farm store down the street. Not only is it far, far superior in taste (I can't stomach the stuff from a box, even if it is organic, just, ew) it's also supporting my local economy, and it only traveled a mile from where it was made to where it was consumed. Plus, they try to source ingredients locally as well. It's not organic or homemade by me, but it is far better than trying to get away with a few bites of hummus and chips for dinner, since that's the only thing that can go directly from fridge to plate.

It's also great when other things are such ingrained habits that I can complete them even as I stumble off to bed, my brain already shifted into the lowest gear that still allows me to walk. I turn off lights, unplug cords and flush with grey water with as much thought as it takes to put one foot in front of the other. Often I climb into bed and try to remember if I'd done something, simply because it had become so automatic that my brain didn't find the memory worth recording.

There are plenty of things that aren't so eco-friendly about allergy season- medications are bad in many ways, lots of tissues, lots more time spent in front of a screen rather than out enjoying the world and short cuts taken when I might have taken the time and energy to do something 'right' on another day. But, we do the best we can, and I rest easier knowing that my dinner was delicious and came in a reusable container, and that many of my habits remain intact simply because they have become habit.