no poison

It rained pretty hard this morning. I decided not to go to mass. But on the other hand, the morning rain was good for what I wanted to do later: remove poison oak from among my shrubs.

I put on long pants, a long sleeve shirt, a shower cap, and two layers of latex gloves. I also treated my face with Tecnu before heading out to look at the shrubs. I dug around in the "flower bed" in which the shrubs grew, going from one end to the other. Thank God it wasn't super long; I think it's a row of 4-5 shrubs.

I didn't see anything that qualifies as poison ivy or posion oak. I did remove three regular oak seedlings; two by the roots. The third one had a surprising large root, approximately 1-inch in diameter though its growth above ground were small. It grew right up against the shrub trunk, so close in fact, that I wondered whether it may have grafted itself. I was unable to remove the root and resorted to cutting it about 2 inches below the ground.

I know nothing about maintaining a "flower bed." But I tried to disturb the idyllic existence of the weeds there. I dug into the ground and tried to turn over the top layer of dirt. I think farmers to that to their fields; for what reason, I don't know. I hope to kill off the weeds. I hope too that the shrubs are strong enough to not be affected.

So I guess it wasn't poison ivy or poison oak that got me. Maybe I'm allergic to the sap from the shrubs themselves. I do trim the shrubs (I did today), but I usually don't handle the cuttings. Anyhow, it doesn't really matter. I'm plenty happy that there is not poison ivy or oak growing in the yard.