Global Warming and Poison Ivy

I did something a little dumb last week. I can be a little single minded at times, so while I was researching and then writing an article that I have since completed, I was neglecting both my weeding and my planting. About one week ago in a break from the rains, I went out and planted a small coleus sprout that we had rooted in one of my flower beds. This is where we plant coleus each year and the weeds were almost overtaking the coleus. So, I pulled out all the weeds and threw them in a pile on my lawn.

The pile of weeds was to large to scatter on the lawn to be cut up the next time the grass was cut, so with out thinking, I gathered up the weeds and disposed of them. A day latter, I noticed the telltale signs of Poison Ivy on my arms. Fortunately only small patches. I quickly applied some Caladryl lotion and the rash has not spread. Now I know what poison ivy looks like. And i could swear I didn't see any. There must of been a small amount of poison ivy in that bundle of weeds that I so blithly picked up and disposed of.

Yesterday, I was greeting a friend of mine, being very careful to not expose her to my Poison Ivy.

I told her that "I hadn't seen any."

She replied, "it can be very insidious."

Then she told me that she had read that global warming was making for more virulent Poison Ivy. I sighed and told her that I had seen the article, and commented that I was in fact writing about global warming earlier.

So now, not only do we have to worry about an increase in storms, melting polar caps, and changing coastlines; those of us who are gardeners or spend any time outside have to worry about an even more virulent form of poison ivy.

I still have more weeding to do. Anyone who gardens has weeding. And all the rains we have had recently, all 8+ inches has done wonders for my weeds.