Our campsite last weekend was crawling with poison ivy, a fact I only learned after I had walked all through it in my sandals to put up my tent. I have never been good at identifying plants, and just didn’t realize what it was. 5 days went by following the trip where I didn’t realize that I had it, I just “have a few bug bites on my ankles” – but this weekend I showed the spots to Michael and he confirmed that the clustering pattern was poison ivy. It’s not a bad case, just a few spots on my ankles, nothing I’ll need to see a doctor for (I don’t think…), but it is my first time catching it and I’m learning a whole new meaning of the word “itchy” this weekend, aarrrg! Thank you neighbor Doug at the campground for pointing it out to us when we met and the other neighbor who loaned us some gloves so Michael could remove most of it, you folks prevented me from getting a much worse case I’m sure.
A couple years ago Michael had a severe case of it, covering half his left leg and much of his right forearm. I don’t know how he coped! He didn’t end up going to a doctor for it (I would have. Steroids ASAP!). This was from some very mature ivy in our back yard when he was cleaning up back there, I was lucky enough just to rub against some young ivy.
So, do you have a poison ivy story?