"Oh, poison ivy doesn't bother me." - Dumb-dumb quote of the century by Jay Bates, April 8, 2024.
Last summer, I got a bad case of poison ivy on all of my limbs. From my ankles to my knees.
From my wrists to my armpits. On my neck, and a little on my belly. I was miserable for a month. That experience was due to arrogance. Nah, I'll be fine. Absolute misery for a month.
Round 2, 2025 style! This time it wasn't arrogance, it was ignorance. I knew poison ivy was in the area I was working in, but I didn't think it would be an issue. I was on a
tractor and didn't plan on walking through any of it. The problem is that it was drier and dustier than I anticipated. While letting the mulcher eat, I was unknowingly covering myself with poison ivy dust. It also happened to be one of the hottest days of the year, with the heat index around 105°F (40°C). So I dressed light in shorts and a sleeveless shirt.
As the
dust got bad, my work ethic declined. I ended the job with about 90% done. There was still a lot more fiddly detail mulching needed, but I was mentally done. Little did I know that the dust I was covered in was partially mulched poison ivy. The thought never crossed my mind.
After parking the tractor, I hosed off all of the dust and went inside to get a shower.
According to the timestamps on my video footage, I showered five hours after beginning the job. Even the most susceptible to poison ivy can eliminate the reaction if they scrub the exposed skin with soap and water within two hours or so. The damage was already done. I didn't get it scrubbed off in time.
This was all on July 24. I'm publishing this video on August
4th, and I'm still miserable. Because the exposure was a complete dusting, rather than brushing up against it, I'm covered in what looks like a chicken pox reaction. tiny poison ivy blisters blanket the underside of both arms and my armpits. The back of my knees is covered, and it wraps completely around my legs down to my ankles. I finally feel like I'm seeing some improvement, but it is still misery. I imagine getting a reaction like this in winter would be about half as bad. When you factor
in the high humidity and heat, my work ethic and overall productivity have crashed. I haven't gotten much done in the days since.
