For my European readers, likely unaware of this plant's very existence, I can only tell you it is worse, a thousand times worse, than the stinging nettle. The nettle, as my fellow tuinierderen will attest, is a worthy adversary, a sort of loyal opposition, satisfying to pull up, a tireless campaigner, quite capable of delivering a nasty bite, but in the end you know who has won and who has lost the day's contest. Admittedly, a serious morning's battle with the stuff will leave your fingertips tingling for quite some time, but that's the worst you can expect by way of lingering effects, a feeling of constant incipient numbness.
Not so the poison oak, oh no, not so. This plant wars from the shadows, it seeks to break your will to fight, and to do so it will attack women and children and ankles and calves and thighs and the backs of your knees alike. Not for it the steely, warlike darts of the nettle, no, no, it relies on chemical warfare, on poisonous, tenacious oils that continue to wreak havoc long after the defenders have given up the fight. Do what you will, even a trip or two through the washing machine is no guarantee that you have rid yourself of its poisons. It is, if a plant may be called so, evil, malaria in comparison to the nettle's mosquito bite.
I do not exaggerate. I detected the first spots a week ago, and every day since then I have been dismayed to discover them spreading and intensifying. Every day I tell myself it can't get much worse, and every day it does, slowly climbing higher up my legs. Here a photo of one of the more minor affected areas (though still not for the squeamish):
Evil, I tell you, I am being consumed by it. Where will it end?
It sounds like Triffids to me..
ReplyDeleteIs there hope?
ReplyDeleteouch...calendula?
ReplyDeleteAfter suffering for some days I remembered that I live in Fairfax, or rather was reminded of this by an Old Hand. A word by way of explanation. Fairfax, economically speaking, rests upon three pillars: the weekend mountain biker traffic, the sale of crystals, and what we might term the "Healing Industry." I was in need of healing, so went looking for some at my local natural foods emporium. They had plenty of options. I went with the cheapest: http://www.hylands.com/products/poisonivy.php. It's a fascinating little pill, looks just like you-know-what, but melts under your tongue: one minute it's there, the next it's gone. Oh, and it seems to work, which is to say it makes it easier to ignore the itching.
ReplyDeleteHappy to report that this attack is pretty much over, and new skin is being revealed. However, Talia commented this morning that she thinks some red spots on FM's cheek might be more of the same....