Tuesday, September 22, 2009

see how my garden grows


The above photo is poison ivy. I am posting this picture as a public service, especially to those of you who, like me, grew up in the desert and don't really know what it looks like. See, I've had a mystery rash for a few weeks now. It started on my wrists and spread up my arms, eventually it appeared on my chest and is now even appearing on my stomach. It is really, really itchy. Like, have occasionally considered amputation, itchy. Being the fully developed hypochondriac that I am, I have cycled through several scary and disgusting possibilities while searching for the answer. Luckily, one of my favorites friends had a bout with the poison ivy last year and, on a whim, I asked her to take a look. "Yup, "she says. Web MD photos confirmed her diagnosis. Upon examining my yard we found several large patches of the stuff. Boo. It was hiding amongst the impatience and regular ivy. Curses. Tomorrow I am off to the doctor because it's still not going away, even with the large amount of antihistamines that my delicate immune system requires every day. Obvious l will be purchasing some sort of noxious and dangerous chemical to kill the poison ivy. Now is not the time to give in to my environmentally friendly tendencies. Now is the time to be grateful for people who create awesome poisons that will kill anything. Thank you chemical person, from the bottom of my heart.

5 comments:

Amber said...

So sorry for you, glad you found out what it was. Poison Ivy is much easier to spot in the fall, it goes bright red and unsuspecting desert babies pick it and display it in vases, only to learn the hard way what it really was.

Linn said...

Terrible, terrible, terrible! I got poision oak as a child and it was one of the worst experiences ever. Like you said, you truly start believe getting rid of the itchy body part would be less trouble than living through it. Good luck and I hope the doctor helps you quickly!

blissed out said...

oh nooo! I had no idea what poison ivy looks like...we had poison oak when I was a kid, but not the ivy. hope your mystery rash goes away soon...

and ps. thanks for linking to my blog :)

erin said...

I grew up here and never really knew what poison ivy looked like, but I did learn from Curious George that with "Leaves of three, leave them be." That's wisdom right there.

erin said...

I grew up here and never really knew what poison ivy looked like, but I did learn from Curious George that with "Leaves of three, leave them be." That's wisdom right there.