Japanese Macaque Monkeys Suffer Hay Fever - SUMOTO, JAPAN - MARCH 17: A 20-year-old Japanese macaque monkey named Monday scratches her eyes while suffering an allergy to POLLEN from the cedar tree at Awajishima Monkey Centre on March 17, 2013, in Sumoto, Japan. Many monkeys are suffering the effects of hay fever at this time of the year, with the typical symptoms being the same as with humans. According to Awajishima Monkey center this year hay fever is higher than last year, the pollen season is from February to April. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
Spring Is in the Air
ACHOO! IT'S CLEAR and dry and breezy on the Eastern Seaboard as April gives way to May, which would be ideal conditions for human beings if not for the fact that it all makes for even more ideal conditions for plants to start making more plants. The gray and soggy middle of the month seems to have left the vegetation especially healthy and in a state of arousal, which in turn has sent allergy-sensitive people in an especially grueling season of wheezing and tears.
As usual, the end of the month also means it's time for Indignity to present our monthly Getty Images Photo Roundup. To provide you, our paid and unpaid readers, with relevant and visually appealing images on your newsletters, Indignity maintains an annual Getty subscription. To make sure all of us get our full money’s worth, at the end of each month, we prepare a bonus collection of photos, so that we keep using up our annual allotment at the appropriate rate. In honor of the glory and the misery of the season, we present our end-of-April photographic roundup, on the theme of POLLEN.
GERMANY-WEATHER-ANIMALS-BEE-FEATURE: A bee collects POLLEN from a sunflower on September 6, 2012 in Neufeld, western Germany. Meteorologists forecast rising temperatures up to 27 degrees Celsius and sunshine for the upcoming weekend. ROLAND WEIHRAUCH/AFP/GettyImages)Eastern White Pine Causes Coating Of POLLEN In Boston Area - FOXBOROUGH, MA - MAY 30: Pollen has covered parts of the Boston area like fallen snow. Employee Shawn Geary power-washes the pollen from the parking lot of Lakeview Pavilion, a banquet facility. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)POLLEN, High-Powered Photomicrographic Magnification, Are Used By Botanists When Taxonomically Classifying Pollen Granules, And Identifying The Source Plants Of These Pollen Particles. (Photo By BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Date palm POLLEN is prepared for sale at a market in the Saudi capital Riyadh on February 25, 2009. The powder-like material is used to pollinate early-bearing female palms. Vendors sell the whole flower spathe from male palms, which can be eaten directly as a fresh vegetable or can be used as a pollen source to enhance fertility. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)CHINA-ANHUI-RWANDA STUDENT-MAIZE STUDY (CN) - Gatera checks the maize at a field affiliated to Anhui Agricultural University in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Aug. 13, 2024. Gatera, a 31-year-old Rwandan, is a Ph.D. student at Anhui Agricultural University, specializing in maize breeding. In 2019, Gatera arrived in Hefei of Anhui Province to pursue a master's degree with the support of a Chinese government scholarship, and continued his doctoral studies at the university since then. During the summer vacation, Gatera and his classmates kept themselves occupied in the laboratory, by observing pollen samples and collecting experimental data. By studying the effects of heat stress and drought stress on the POLLEN of maize, Gatera focused on developing drought-resistant and heat-tolerant maize varieties. He believes that this research is quite meaningful in the context of global warming. "In my hometown of Rwanda, maize is one of the main crops, but agricultural technology is relatively underdeveloped. China has advanced technology and is willing to share it with countries in need. I want to bring the knowledge that I learnt in China back to my hometown and to contribute to the development of agriculture there," Gatera said. Gatera regards the late legendary Chinese scientist Yuan Longping as his idol, believing that Yuan's work with hybrid rice has solved food security issues in many parts of the world and has inspired many young researchers like himself. "I hope that through my studies and research, Africa can produce more food and improve people's lives," he said. (Photo by Huang Bohan/Xinhua via Getty Images)Assyrian relief of winged genie: Winged genie with spath (POLLEN), and pollen/spath-bucket before a Tree of Life panel (at other museum), giving its blessing. Relief from the north wall of the Palace of King Sargon II at Dur Sharrukin in Assyria (now Khorsabad in Iraq). | Located in: Musee du Louvre. (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)Next Generation Agriculture Expo - Japan - POLLEN spraying machine that increases efficiency of pollination work at Next Generation Agriculture Expo on October 11, 2018, in Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Katsumi KASAHARA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)MYANMAR-GERMANY-ART: This photo taken on January 14, 2017 shows a large art installation sprinkled with POLLEN in the centre created by multi-awarded German conceptual artist Wolfgang Laib, for part of his exhibition "Where the Land and Water End" inspired by Eastern philosophies on the lower ground level of a spiral staircase at the historic Secretariat building in Yangon. The German artist's body of work using natural materials of pollen, beeswax, milk, rice, marble stone, and including brass is the first major art exhibition shown at the century-old Secretariat building complex which served as the former seat of the British colonial administration and of successive governments following Myanmar's independence. (Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP via Getty Images)Cloud Gate Dance Theatre At BAM: Taiwanese dancers Tsai Ning-yuan (left) and Huang Pei-hua (female), both of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, perform in 'Rice' (during the 'POLLEN II' section, choreographed and conceived by company founder and artistic director Lin Hwai-min) at a press photo-call at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn, New York, New York, September 16, 2015. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, visit West Wales, Walkabout at Neuadd Pendre Hall, Brook Street, Tywyn, Diana's coat dress is made of tan coloured checked wool with brown leather cuffs and collar and was designed by designer Arabella POLLEN, 25th November 1982. (Photo by John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty Images)Murder trial against Friedrich Buchta. He is accused of shooting and robbing his friend Walter Paschinger the previous year. The body was found based on a POLLEN analysis. Great Courtroom. Regional Court of Vienna. 9 June 1960. (Photo by Votava/brandstaetter images via Getty Images)JAPAN-HEALTH-HAYFEVER-WEATHER - TO GO WITH STORY "HEALTH-JAPAN-HAYFEVER-WEATHER" BY SHIGEMI SATO This picture taken on March 5, 2014 shows employee Takahiro Sasaki of Japan's novelty electronics shop Thanko showing a battery powered POLLEN protection hood "Kafun blocker" in Tokyo. The beekeeper-like nylon hood, which claims "shuts out 99.99 percent of pollen" by taking air through a fan and a filter on its top is a popular product to protect from hayfever. Spring in Japan famously brings explosions of pink and white cherry blossoms that provide a beautiful backdrop for picnics across this nature-loving country. But it also heralds a mass outbreak of facemasks and speciality goggles intended to fend off clouds of pollen that make noses stream and eyes itch. YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images
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★★★★★ A woman crossed the street outside in jeans and a motorcycle jacket, dressed for the morning at hand, not the rest of the day swiftly approaching. Shadows of roofline ornaments jogged and zigzagged down the middle of the sidewalk on the way to the fallen pink cherry petals at the corner. A warm breeze carried cooking smells from the restaurants on Columbus and lifted the flag bunting on the community garden fence. A thrilling gust came booming around the back courtyard, sending bits of plant matter soaring aloft to catch the sun. In early afternoon white took over from blue, but the warmth kept rising. The smell of growing things overflowed the Park. Crabapple petals on the mud by the pool gathered more thickly to trace the channels of the rivulets. A catbird showed up on readout of the birdsong app and then offscreen atop a rock, lifting and stretching its neck. People were walking dogs and baby strollers, and two women sat together on a bench with one of each. Further along the benches, the returning sun got briefly hot enough to require moving to the next bench over, in the shade.
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SANDWICH RECIPES DEP'T.
WE PRESENT INSTRUCTIONS in aid of the assembly of a sandwich selected from Practical Cookery; A Compilation of Principles of Cookery and Recipes and The Etiquette and Service of the Table, by the Department of Food Economics and Nutrition, Kansas State Agricultural College, published in 1921, and available at archive.org for the delectation of all.
SANDWICHES Sandwiches are classified according to the kind of material used for filling. Savory sandwiches are made of crackers, pastry, or any kind of bread. Sweet sandwiches are made of cake, lady fingers, macaroons, sweet waters, crackers, pastry, or any kind of bread. The filling for a sandwich is made of any material that is appropriately eaten with the cover.
LETTUCE SANDWICHES Butter thin slices of bread. Lay a crisp, tender lettuce leaf on one slice, spread with thick, cooked salad dressing, cover dressing with lettuce leaf, and press another slice of bread over it. A lettuce leaf is an appetizing addition to many varieties of sandwiches.
If you decide to prepare and attempt to enjoy a sandwich inspired by this offering, be sure to send a picture to indignity@indignity.net.
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Essays, inquiries, arguments, advice, and archaic sandwiches for hungry readers.
Tom Scocca
TOM SCOCCA
