On Wednesday, after being down for six days with a bad cold, I welcomed the hay-fever season by beginning to take my medications to keep from sneezing all spring. It was too cold for there to be more of a hay-fever effect than an occasional pair of sneezes, but I could tell that it was time to brace myself for the waves of pollen to come. Today in Basel, the sun has shone all day, and the high temperature was 12° C, and now, after sunset, I can tell that the medication I took in the evening yesterday has worn off. That makes it time to go take my daily dose. (Andrew Shields, #111words, 7 February 2026)