A couple of weeks ago when I was in Maryland, I had the opportunity to give back to my good friend who always lets me stay at her home on these trips, by doing some spring gardening for her.
I spent two full days digging weeds out of her flower beds, tying up her daffodil clumps, and generally straightening up her landscape. It felt great to be able to contribute to her home maintenance in such a visible and helpful way, since she has been so generous to me over the last six months, giving me a place to stay for so many trips up there.
Unfortunately, while I was doing that gardening, I ran across a big patch of Poison Ivy. I knew what it was, and I was careful with it, but I wasn't too worried about it, because I've never had it before, and so I figured I must not be affected by it (only about half of people who encounter it get a reaction from it).
Well, about five days ago, I started getting itchy spots all over my arms, and I figured I'd gotten bitten by some nasty insects. Then the spots started to enlarge, turn red, and get blistery. As it worsened, I worried that I'd come down with some sort of fungal skin infection - eeeewwwww!!! I figured, it had been at least 12 days since I'd been in touch with that poison ivy, so it couldn't be that.
Well, then I did some research on poison ivy. Turns out, the first time you have a reaction, it can take anywhere from five to twenty days to incubate before the symptoms appear. Then they can continue to appear over the course of several days.
So yeah, I guess I'm dealing with some nasty patches of poison ivy all over my forearms and now appearing on my knees, calves and shins also. And let me tell you, it is ITCHY!!!!
So, how does any of this relate to my gratitude post today?
Well, I guess I feel like I'm still grateful that I had a chance to help out my friend, and to express my gratitude to her for her hospitality. Even knowing that I would get this incredibly itchy rash, I would still sign up to help her out and get her gardening done for her. Because that's how much I am grateful to her, for her hospitality and for her friendship.
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I spent two full days digging weeds out of her flower beds, tying up her daffodil clumps, and generally straightening up her landscape. It felt great to be able to contribute to her home maintenance in such a visible and helpful way, since she has been so generous to me over the last six months, giving me a place to stay for so many trips up there.
Unfortunately, while I was doing that gardening, I ran across a big patch of Poison Ivy. I knew what it was, and I was careful with it, but I wasn't too worried about it, because I've never had it before, and so I figured I must not be affected by it (only about half of people who encounter it get a reaction from it).
Well, about five days ago, I started getting itchy spots all over my arms, and I figured I'd gotten bitten by some nasty insects. Then the spots started to enlarge, turn red, and get blistery. As it worsened, I worried that I'd come down with some sort of fungal skin infection - eeeewwwww!!! I figured, it had been at least 12 days since I'd been in touch with that poison ivy, so it couldn't be that.
Well, then I did some research on poison ivy. Turns out, the first time you have a reaction, it can take anywhere from five to twenty days to incubate before the symptoms appear. Then they can continue to appear over the course of several days.
So yeah, I guess I'm dealing with some nasty patches of poison ivy all over my forearms and now appearing on my knees, calves and shins also. And let me tell you, it is ITCHY!!!!
So, how does any of this relate to my gratitude post today?
Well, I guess I feel like I'm still grateful that I had a chance to help out my friend, and to express my gratitude to her for her hospitality. Even knowing that I would get this incredibly itchy rash, I would still sign up to help her out and get her gardening done for her. Because that's how much I am grateful to her, for her hospitality and for her friendship.
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That was really nice of you to help a friend. I hope it stops itching soon. This is really interesting information.
ReplyDeleteThe itching ebbs and flows... sometimes it's unbearable! but luckily that's only a small part of the day. Hopefully it will start to clear up soon. Thanks for stopping by!
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