Who would have thought trying to be "green" could get so red?...

In an attempt to "go green" (well, just a little green), my husband and I decided to completely clear-out the entirely overgrown patch of "garden" at my parents house in Connecticut.  My previous memories of this garden are running barefoot through the yard to the 12X8 foot growing spot to pick freshly sprouted snap peas from their stalks, bright red cherry tomatoes and other such wonderful summer delicacies.

That memory has now been shattered and replaced with red streaks and yellow blisters and an itch that is very close to unbearable.

Growing up I never had a reaction to poison ivy, despite several run-ins with the three-leaved plant, so I had always assumed I was not allergic.  My husband, being from outside of the US, was unfamiliar with it so had no concerns of the rash.  Nonetheless, I was very strict about him being careful when going near the overgrowth in the (formerly known as) garden and made sure that he was very careful not to touch anything.  He used a rake to uproot the jungle of "weeds" while I picked up the piles of intertwined mess and placed them into garbage bags.

"Any reaction you may have to poison ivy would show up within 10 minutes," said my father, a "seasoned gardener".  We waited about 10 minutes, no reaction, so we gardened on!  MAN, OH MAN...was he wrong.

Let me take this time to be very clear, this blog is in NO way medical advise - just some details about this interesting experience that I have had following my encounter with poison ivy.  I would also like to say, despite my "woe is me" attitude about the poison ivy, I think that this is actually kind of funny - it's really not THAT big a deal.  I am fortunate enough to only have reactions on my arms and legs - there is nothing on my face (in that case I would be upset), nothing on my bottom (in that case I would be really sad), and THANK GOODNESS nothing in the other place where the "sun don't shine" (in that case I would be totally devastated...I simply don't know how people can survive with a poison ivy reaction there, if you search it, you will find the stories...if that's you, I am SO sorry!).

The gardening day occurred over Memorial Day weekend and for the 6 days following Memorial Day life went on as usual, no itching, no marks, just a happy person awaiting the outcome of the beautiful planting that had been done over the holiday weekend.

I will continue with the progression of what happened next in the following post.