‘Belle’ of the ball on a rainy weekday

Umbrellas were out Monday morning in front of Hotel Indigo Atlanta Downtown at 230 Peachtree Road, where John Portman’s “Belle,” a modern, abstract sculpture cast in chrome and mounted on a granite pedestal, gathered rain droplets as a band of heavy rain pushed through metro Atlanta. Recent spurts of rain and warmer weather have led to increasing pollen. Spring pollen season usually starts in mid- to late March but can sometimes begin as early as February. “Warmer temps encourage trees like juniper, elm and birch to release pollens that we normally do not see until the spring months,” according to Atlanta Allergy & Asthma. As of late last week, tree pollen was already in the high range.