Down and Dirty?

So for a number of years I've thought the general headache I endured upon waking every morning was due to my coffee addiction, although I only drink it in the morning, and usually not more than a mug (OK, a very large mug) or two. Curiously, though, the headache dissipates after a short while after rising, and often before the morning java is consumed.

So, it occurred to me a couple of weeks ago that perhaps, just perhaps, I might have an allergy to feathers.  I've used a feather/down pillow since I was a child, and when I left home at 18, Mom sent along a couple of pillows. Now you have to realize that the pillows were made from the old daybed that my mom slept on as a child, given new ticking every decade or so. OK, maybe every 5 years.

Figuring that my grandparents didn't run out during the Great Depression to purchase a daybed, I have to assume it was in their home when Mom was born in 1929. Doing the math here, I have to figure that the feathers came from ducks/geese that have been dead for at least 80-85 years. There is a distinct possibility that the feathers have irreparably broken down into dust, you think?

So I snagged an "inferior synthetic pillow from the linen closet and have been using it for a week or so. No morning headache. I'm only sad that I can't figure out how to use the data for a science fair experiment.  I'm pretty sure that takes place in March, and I'd be all set to go.