Ahh... finally, winter has come and those of us with allergic rhinitis or pollen allergies can breathe easier. Right?

Well, there are surely less pollens floating in the air, what with the trees having lost most of their canopy. But then, there are still the perenially green trees. Come Christmas, a lot of you might even set up one in the hearth of your home. Christmas trees!

For some people, being cooped in such close proximity to pine trees may trigger allergy symptoms. The pollen doesn't appear to be the problem, but the mold spores they bring along indoors.

Maybe even Santa.

"His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry," wrote Clement Clarke Moore (or Henry Livingston Jr., as some scholars now believe), describing Santa in The Night Before Christmas.

Santa may, of course, have simply been filled with good cheer. But, as the story continues, he left the house "laying his finger aside of his nose."

Uh-oh. How about setting up an artificial Christmas tree, instead? If you're using an old one, make sure you wipe it down thoroughly before setting it up. If you insist on using fresh Christmas trees, they advise driving it home on the roof of you car, and to tap off, or better, use a leaf blower to get rid of most of the mold spores before taking it indoors.

So what's it gonna be for you this year-- A real pine? or plastic?