Ashes to Ashes

So, I asked the city of Oakland what the trees are that line my street.

I got the answer yesterday. They are "Raywood Ash", also known as "Claret Ash" due to the lovely wine color the leaves turn in the fall.

I called Kaiser to ask if they test for Ash, since it wasn't on my results. They don't. They do test families, but the allergist couldn't tell me offhand what family of tree the Ash belongs to.

Well, the Ash is part of the Oleaceae family of trees.

The average person may know them as OLIVE TREES.


And now I know that I have doomed myself, because I am allergic to Olive trees, and my street is lined with them.

I may buy stock in Claratin.