lEaVeS Of ThREe, LeT It bE!!!!!!

Seriously. How can such a beautiful vine cause such nastiness? Swollen, itchy, less than attractive, pretty much sums up my last couple of weeks....my latest run in with poison ivy got the best of me and has definitely worn out its' welcome!!!! And, it WASN'T because I DON'T know what it looks like, it's simply because of arrogance and an undeserved confidence that led me to think I was resilient to the stuff any more. I used to be horribly allergic to it when I was younger, but I've been around it several times over the past few years and haven't had any reactions, so of course, I've had it in my head that I am now one of the lucky souls that isn't bothered by it anymore. Obviously, not the case! In an effort to start creating a beachy, picnic area around the pond a couple of weekends ago, we needed to clear out a LOT of scrub brush that was blocking the view and stifling the growth of the good stuff. I wasn't totally careless, I had on gloves and boots. The tank top probably wasn't the best idea and wiping the sweat off my face with the gloves was another bad choice. The poison ivy was everywhere, and I ripped and pulled, and yanked it out of there as mindlessly as I ripped out the skin friendly grapevines. Even with an aggressive scrub-down, the after effects of my efforts were fully evident the next day, with colorful additions popping up several days beyond! That portion of the pond was starting to look better, I however, not so much!
Went the natural route to start with... baking soda pastes, oatmeal baths, vitamin c, jewelweed soaps, homeopathic tablets....then discovered Zanfel.....a pricey little tube of heaven (went through two of them, so far!) available at any discount store or pharmacy, but still ended up having to break down and head to the clinic...when it gets in your system, you can fight it out for 4-6 weeks, or let a little prednisone help put the brakes on it. It's impossible to cover it up for shooting, and long sleeves on warm days...not very comfortable. The team was adamant about me wearing a sweatshirt, a scarf and a face framing hairdo at our event last weekend, so I didn't gross everyone out...NICE, huh?!! Basically, it is what it is...I've still had to go about my business and get out and about, so for those of you who I've run into over the past couple of weeks, who walked away thinking, "man what's wrong with her?!".......that's the story!
Ivy Block and long sleeves are in order next time!




CHEERS TO NATURE....the good, the bad and the ugly!
michele.