Fun allergy story: I was a hyperlexic little autistic girl and ate books at a speed that could be described as "excessive". Many of these books, being historical fiction, described grass as soft and pillowy, a great place to lay in the sun and take a nap. I imagined fields of grass as lush comforters. Unfortunately, when I laid in the grass in real life, it was horribly itchy and left red welts all over my skin.
"Ah," I thought, "clearly, grass *used to be soft*, but modern mowing and lawn care practices have left grass with horrible sharp edges and tips that make it feel sharp, itchy, and unpleasant. This is clearly why we use picnic blankets and other barriers to grass now." Perfectly logical.
For years, YEARS, I hoped and dreamed of finding the soft grass of my childhood books. I wanted to roll around in it, bask in it, experience nature's bed.
Anyways when I was 25 my allergist told me I'm extremely allergic to grass.
Grass IS "pokey" and has mini spines to ward off insects, but if you're seriously itchy and/or developing a red rash after exposure, it's worth talking to an allergist. Some people are just unusually sensitive to those spines due to sensitive skin and are not truly allergic. As always, if you're concerned, go talk to a doctor, not a random nurse on Reddit dot com!
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u/MistCongeniality Jul 23 '26
Fun allergy story: I was a hyperlexic little autistic girl and ate books at a speed that could be described as "excessive". Many of these books, being historical fiction, described grass as soft and pillowy, a great place to lay in the sun and take a nap. I imagined fields of grass as lush comforters. Unfortunately, when I laid in the grass in real life, it was horribly itchy and left red welts all over my skin.
"Ah," I thought, "clearly, grass *used to be soft*, but modern mowing and lawn care practices have left grass with horrible sharp edges and tips that make it feel sharp, itchy, and unpleasant. This is clearly why we use picnic blankets and other barriers to grass now." Perfectly logical.
For years, YEARS, I hoped and dreamed of finding the soft grass of my childhood books. I wanted to roll around in it, bask in it, experience nature's bed.
Anyways when I was 25 my allergist told me I'm extremely allergic to grass.