It’s time for my yearly rant about the monstrosity across the street. I figure that since I wrote about it last Halloween as well as the one before, I might as well make it an annual tradition, at least until something is done about it. Imagine looking out your front window at this year after year!

We used to joke about the flock of pigeons that lived in the house and suggest that someone should put up a sign at the entrance to town advertising it as the world’s largest birdhouse. That was before I read an article in the Edmonton Journal last April about a New Brunswick woman who is permanently blind after contracting cryptococcal meningitis, a potentially fatal disease that is carried by pigeon feces. When I realized that the birds posed such a significant health hazard, I wrote a letter to the town and included a link to the article. There was no response until a month later after we talked to a town councillor at senior golf one morning. The very next day, I received an email from the town administrator apologizing for failing to respond and assuring me that the town was “trying to work through the legal issues to have a successful conclusion to this long-standing situation”. There was no mention of the pigeons and they continued to inhabit the house until sometime after we left for Saipan in June. Had they still been there when we returned in August, we would have lodged a complaint with Alberta Health. I’m not sure what took place during our absence. We still see the occasional pigeon perched atop the roof but they’re not flying in and out anymore and we no longer hear the house cooing when we step outside our door.

Late last month, we met the mayor while we were out for a walk. She told us that the property owner had been given until the end of September to begin work on the exterior of the house (siding, garage doors and landscaping) or the town would have it done and charge him for it. Since he’d ignored every deadline he’d been given in the past, we didn’t hold out much hope but there was a flurry of activity for 2 or 3 days at the very end of the month. Most of the time, he appeared to be pressure washing the inside of the house. Getting rid of pigeon poop, no doubt! As far as the exterior is concerned, he replaced one small piece of board that was badly deteriorated and applied house wrap to a small corner of the lower storey. It looks like it was hung by a group of kindergarten kids and I’m sure the only reason that it wasn’t torn off by the first strong wind that came along is the fact that that part of the house is so well sheltered.

Apparently, he must feel that that should be enough to satisfy the town as he hasn’t been back to do anything else! Sadly, given what we’ve seen so far, he might be right.

We’re at our wits end wondering what to do. Obviously complaining to the town does no good. At this point, I’d just like to see the eyesore torn down but how do we accomplish that?

Until I had children, I’d never had to deal with allergies. It’s not unusual for children to inherit certain health conditions from their parents but, in my case, it almost seems as if it’s happened the other way around!

When Richard and I moved to Japan three years ago, we were delighted to find that deliciously fresh pineapple was one of the least expensive fruits in our grocery store. For a time, we enjoyed it with breakfast every morning. After awhile, I began to develop mouth sores. Of course, we were eating a lot of unfamiliar foods at the time so, in spite of the fact that our daughter has been allergic to pineapple for most of her life, it took awhile before I realized that it was the culprit. Since that time, my allergy to pineapple has worsened to the point where an anaphylactic reaction is a very real possibility and I must avoid it at all cost. Very sad, considering how much I used to enjoy it.

Environmental allergies plagued our oldest son, especially in the springtime. Every spring, snow moulds, grasses and pollens would invariably trigger a severe asthma attack. In fact, we used to say that poor Matthew was allergic to spring! I felt so sorry for him. For several years now, Matt seemed to have outgrown those allergies but now I’m beginning to think that he just passed them on to me!

For the past few springs, something on the golf course would leave me sniffling. Something other than my score, that is! The day before yesterday, as we finished our round, it felt as though I had something in my eye. When hadn’t watered out or even moved by later that evening, I realized that something else was going on. It felt like there was a bump on the underside of my eyelid that scraped my eyeball every time I blinked. By last night, my eye was quite badly irritated so, since I was in Camrose on other business this morning, I paid an unscheduled visit to the eye care clinic. Fortunately, a doctor was able to see me right away. He flipped my eyelid inside out, a very strange feeling indeed, and told me that rather than being smooth as it ought to be, the underside looked like cauliflower! A severe allergic reaction was his diagnosis. To what, he couldn’t say but most likely something environmental. Thanks, Matt! Hopefully, the eye drops that he prescribed will take effect quickly.

What else are my kids allergic to? Well, Melaina is allergic to penicillin and Matt didn’t used to be able to eat eggs. Will those be next, I wonder?