el día del pica pica//the itchy itchy day

Photo taken from gardening.eu

Aquí en Tuxtla hay un árbol al que le llaman pica pica porque suelta unos pelillos que producen una tremenda comezón, muy parecida a la que dan los piquetes de moscos.

Cerca de la casa, hay por lo menos uno de esos árboles y muy seguido sentimos el "pica pica". Pero ayer que entró un frente frío, se desató un aironazo que parecía que tuvieramos un ciclón encima. Y con esos vientos huracanados, la comezón estuvo como nunca. Tanto, que Carmen ni se fijó en el viento que azotaba las ventanas. Para ella, este día fue sólo "el día del pica pica".

There´s a tree here in Tuxtla, called "itchy-itchy." Its seed capsules are filled with irritating hairs that blow in the wind and when they drop onto your skin they cause quite a discomfort, very similar to that of a mosquito bite.

Close to our house there is at least one of those trees, and very often we feel itchy. But yesterday was a day like no other. There was a really powerful wind blowing all day long. It seemed like a hurricane was about to make landfall. With those strong winds, the itchiness was a nightmare. It was so bad that Carmen didn´t mind the wind that was roaring, for her this was only the "itchy-itchy day."