[13] wool

Let's talk about wool (baby). 

I have always been a big fan of wool. Warm! Cozy! Comfy!

I also sort of didn't understand the people said things like, "Wool is so itchy" or "I can't wear wool. It bothers my skin." Wimps. What is wrong with them?

I seriously think this life is just one long series of incidents of the universe mocking me for my lack of understanding of people's allergies and sensory issues.

Yes, wool now bothers me. It itches where it touches my neck. It itches to the point where I have little raw spots where the wool touches.

Not just any wool, though. Not just the scratchy sweater kind of wool. My silk and cashmere scarf itches where it touches my neck. My suit jackets itch where they touch my neck. Even - get this - my double-cloth dress coat from jcrew itches where it touches my neck. 

I think I'm losing my mind.

When I started law school, one of my friends who is eight months older than me told me, wisely, that your body starts falling apart when you hit 25. I can testify to the veracity of this, because that was the year that my eczema kicked in. Suddenly I was visiting the doctor to figure out what to do about these dry, flaky patches on my arm.

It was the beginning of a long and devoted relationship between hydrocortizone cream and me.

As far as I have read, eczema and allergies and things like Type 1 diabetes are all vaguely related because they either are all auto-immune responses or symptoms of an auto-immune disorder (I'm a little fuzzy on that part). This makes sense to me because my dad has Type 1 diabetes and eczema and possibly allergies and possibly celiac disease, and I seem to be headed that way myself. (Except for the diabetes, please God, I can handle anything but removing sugar from my diet.)

Summary: your body changes as you get older, and it gets more expensive. 

To wit: replacing all the wool items in my closet. Like I have that kind of money.