"Beijing Snow"

No, it is not snowing in Beijing in May. But there are pieces of cottony kind of fibers flying thick and fast. They are from the kapok or cottontree. I do not see any around me here, but they must be a whole lot of them somewhere. I know what they are because of dealing with them in Senegal, where we did see the bushes with the cotton kind of bolls on them. It reminds me greatly of other times and places where what is in the air is compared to snow.

At a certain time in Senegal (I think February because we would be at the President’s Day softball tournament), there would be millions of small white butterflies. There were so many we would call them “Senegal Snow”. In Panama there was a time when a certain tree would lose its white flowers. They would lie under the tree and swirl in the air. We called them “Panama Snow”. However, Senegal and Panama are tropical countries and never see snow. Beijing does not have much snow because it is almost a desert climate, but it is the same latitude as Pennsylvania, and most years there is a little snow.

The spring pollen season is almost past in Beijing. It can be very bad with many suffering people. It is augmented by the horrible air pollution. But people who are conscious of the problems (Rick and I do not seem to be bothered) say that the worst is over. So I am only teasing when I have called the cotton blowing by me “Beijing Snow”.