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Until someone gets poison ivy. Or poison oak. Or poison sumac. Or something.
Eliza and I went for a little jaunt in the woods today. It turned out to be littler than planned because I walked through a grove of poison something-or-other. We were bushwhacking a little. And a couple steps in I noticed that the leaves of these plants were actually little razor blades. Sharp ones. Except there weren't any cuts; it just burned like heck wherever the edges of the leaves had touched me. Hives were quickly forming. Then I had a choice: I could either turn around, only two steps into the death trap, and go back to the car the round-about way; or I could push through the 15 feet to the trail which I could see, and which would get me to the car quickly. I chose to push through. Let me just say, ouch ouch ouch!!
Once back in the car we drove straight to the pharmacy for calamine lotion and home (only 5 miles above the speed limit). I have now been sitting in front of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with pinky-white legs warding off Eliza who thinks calamine lotion is tasty. I've so far been distracted enough to keep from raking fingernails up and down my legs. So far.
I think next time I go traipsing through the woods, I'll wear pants.