Episode 1: Yesterday I completed the project to clear the perimeter garden in my backyard. Stumps gone. Vines gone. All that was left was to spread some mulch over sections that my previous efforts had laid bare. On a bike ride the other day I noticed a landscaper’s employee moving mulch in a wheel barrow. Instead of facing the load and pushing, he faced away from the load and pulled. I tried it. Much easier as long as you don’t tip the load.
When I was a kid I played in the woods near home. (Sadly, they no longer exist.) Every summer I’d get into some poison ivy and spend weeks covered in So Help Me Hannah. I was told not to go into the swimming pool because I could spread the rash. In my mid-twenties I spent a summer in California. I house sat in Oakland and came into contact with poison oak. In no time, I was covered in a rash. My housemates did a quick overnight road trip to Yosemite but I passed on it to avoid spreading my rash.
Of course, now I know that you can’t spread the rash to other people (as long as you change your clothes after coming in contact with the plants).
As I write this, I have a rash over my hands, forearms, face, and crotch. (Never take a leak while yanking vines from the garden!) Feels like old times.
Episode 2: I was hoping to do a van-supported ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway this fall. I was put off by the cost (something like $3,400) and the driving. I would have had to drive at least ten hours to Nashville a few days after driving for 25 hours to, from, and within southern New England over four days. I opted out of the ride.
As it turned out, I lucked out. First, the hurricane that hit Appalachia would have cause a detour of at least two hours to get to Nashville. Second, a few days before I would have left, my neighbor backed into my car. And that’s not all. Yesterday I learned that the price of the tour in 2025 has been reduced to $2,400. Good things happen to those who wait.
Episode 3: Haven’t you ever dreamed of being a bird? After you wake up you fly to the nearest bird feeder, swoop down, and fill your tummy without a care in the world. Or so you thought. RIP mourning dove. I hope you enjoyed your breakfast.
Episode 4: There’s a house about four miles from home that has a whimsical sign by the side of the road. They change the sign monthly. This was the most recent.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
I saw a road side sign with a guy’s name on it. Below it was written “I’m not running for office. I just wanted to see my name on a road sign”.
There’s an orthodontist around here that has signs that look like political yard signs. Pretty clever.
Oh…my…gosh. This post. I had to laugh out loud at your current rash. I can empathize all too well. One time I was out in the woods (maybe hiking? I can’t even remember it’s a blurr) and went to go pee. Not to give TMI, but normally I just let the wind do its thing if I don’t have any TP and move about my day. On this day, I decided to grab a leave and wipe my excess urine, and well. I can’t confirm for certain if it was poison ivy, but the pain that followed on my nether region is one I will never forget. Shows how educated I was about the foliage.
I think my story proves the lawn sign to be true. Surely my parents would have been ashamed of my idiocy, and of me sharing this on the internet. 🤣
No worries. My daughter texted last night. She was out walking on a trail in Connecticut and spotted a bobcat.
So long as it wasn’t a bear 🐻 😉
You wouldn’t find me walking on that trail alone after seeing a bobcat, but a bear would put me in my grave from fear. 🤣
That’s an unfortunate place for a rash! Hope it heals quick 🤞