Poison Ivy

Links:
A .Amazing Urushiol
B. Poison Ivy

Not long ago I wrote about my feelings regarding cedar trees, and my chainsaw solution to the problems they cause. In this post I would like to introduce another villain of the plant world, poison ivy. In the process of cutting up the fallen cedar I have been unpleasantly reminded that poison ivy vines can and do climb trees. Of course this time of year there are no “leaves of three” to give warning. All that is showing is the dead looking vine. So, while I was happily cutting up the cedar I didn't think twice about the “honeysuckle” vine that I chopped up and put on the burn pile. Then a day or so later a familiar rash started popping up on my arms, right between where my gloves meet the cuffs of my shirt. No problem, I have been though this before, I will start treating this right away and then it wouldn't be quite so bad. I find it truly amazing that one or two small blisters can itch so very much. I thought that I was going to get off easy this time until a few spots showed up on my legs, then on my stomach and drat it, on my face and now it is pretty much all over. When will I learn to wash everything, I mean everything that could possibly have that oil on it. An internet search revealed some fun facts about poison ivy and its cousins, that I would like to share with you. The ingredient in poison ivy that is the poison is an oil called urushiol and takes takes only 1 nanogram (billionth of a gram to cause a rash. It would only take 1/4 ounce to cause a rash on every person on the entire planet! The amount that covers the head of a pin could make 500 people itch. The nasty oil is found in the entire plant, leaves, stems, roots. Only people react to the oil, animals can actually eat the stuff. Little did I know that I had chemical weapons growing right in my own back yard. And, it is organic!

I Have a Chainsaw and I Am Not Afraid to Use It

Thursday I spent the day in Austin waiting for the eight cats I took into the Humane Society to have their surgery and then to wake up enough for me to take them home. After a restless night listening to kitties crying to be let out of the traps I happily returned them to their homes. The first one out was the one that had protested the most, and what does he do, but go right into the open trap that his sibling was in, then into the next trap, then up into the car. After two nights of crying and then he wants to go back into a trap, what a cat! After the releases all I was left with was the dirty traps and the odor of pent up cats. I do have a “day” job which I worked at the rest of the day.

The weekend was spent cutting up cedar. Cedar, if you live in central Texas you must be familiar with cedar, it is everywhere! I know, I know, it is really a juniper, but around here we call it cedar. It comes in male and female sexes, it is the males that produce the pollen that causes cedar fever. Cedar season usually starts around Christmas and lasts until the end of February. Cedar fever is a miserable allergy. When a cedar tree releases its pollen it can look like it is on fire and is smoking, so much pollen is released at once, it really is a site to see. Now I know it is not practical to cut down all the cedars, but when one is suffering from cedar fever ridding the world of cedar trees doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. If not all the cedar trees, at least all the male cedar trees. When I am out for a drive this time of year, I take pleasure in noticing all the male cedars and picture them cut down or burning up like a torch. Or, cut down and burning! Last year when my suffering was at its worse, red and itchy eyes, itchy ears, runny nose, even the roof of my mouth and deep inside my ears was itching, stuffed up head, feverish, you get the idea. I decided to fight back, I revved up the chain saw and tackled some pretty big cedar trees on my property. It was hand to hand combat or rather hand to branch. I ended up covered with bruises, scrapes and scratches, but they ended up fallen. The satisfaction I got taking down those trees was immense. But, they did fight back, even after they had fallen they used their last bit of life to produce a last burst of pollen that made me miserable. Now cedar grows like bushes but the ones I took down were actually trees, big trees. I should have been scared, but I think, that at the time I was feverish and slightly mad with cedar fever. Now a full year has passed and it is time to clear away the fallen trees. I pull out the chainsaw again and start dissecting. Through the years I have found that I can dispose of all sorts of things if I am able to reduce them to smaller pieces. I have dissected a clothes dryer, a swimming pool and now I am working on those dead and dried cedar trees. It would be easy if I just wanted to cut them up and burn them, but I don't want to waste them, So the needles I am stripping off to add to my garden in the hopes that it will raise the soil ph. The smaller branches I am cutting up for kindling, some of the larger pieces I am cutting up to burn in my wood stove. I am saving the long straight pieces for posts and the really large pieces I hope to make something out of. Maybe some benches or a mantle piece. It is slow going but I am making progress. A chainsaw is a wonderful tool to reduce things into smaller pieces. I am not a big woman, but I do have a chainsaw and I'm not afraid to use it. Something to remember if you ever think of crossing me!