Some folks are allergic to poison ivy.  Some folks aren’t.

I wish I could say that I am a proud member of the latter but, alas, I must confess that I’m but a woebegotten person of the former description.

Which brings to mind a story of my youth. I was in the 5th or 6th grade in the little community of Briartown, Oklahoma (down near Lake Eufaula). One of the benefits of living in a rural community is that you have a lot of roamin’ and ramblin’ room if you like nature and outdoor kinds of things.

One autumn afternoon (a Sunday, if I remember right), my buddies came over to my home and invited me to go play with them. They’d concocted an afternoon of fun where we’d go tobogganing in October. One of my friends had managed to scrounge up a nail-studded piece of corrugated roofing tin. We tugged and pulled and managed to get the front end bent up like an honest-to-goodness snow sled. Next, we went to the railroad embankment behind my friend’s home. Mom always told us to stay away from such places but we kids were world-wise enough to know when the freight trains were scheduled to come rumblin’ through. (Besides, are children really supposed to pay any heed to any of those maternal admonitions: “you’ll put your eye out!” or “you’ll break your neck!”?)

The nice thing about the railroad slope was that it wasn’t grazed and it wasn’t mowed. The grass grew tall and lush. We discovered that it made excellent “snow” if you laid it over flat with a few passes of the toboggan. The steepness of the hill and the slipperiness of the bent vegetation generated quite an exciting ride for eight kids crammed onto a piece of tin.

The extra highlight of the speed runs was that there was a game of “chicken” at the very end. The challenge was to see who would stay on the sled the longest…before the toboggan crashed into a passel of tree saplings at the base of the slope. We slid off, and momentum being what it is, went tumblin’ elbows over knee bones into the woods. Up we’d jump and dust ourselves off and go back and do it again.

What fun!

That evening I had some explaining to do when my parents pressed me on how I got all of the chlorophyll stains and tears in my sturdy dungarees.  

That’s nothing, however, compared to what happened the next morning. I woke up to a face that was swollen beyond recognition. I had a poison ivy rash that just wouldn’t quit. Ouch!

Mom, resourceful person that she is, smeared a bunch of “pink lady’s lotion” (calamine lotion) on the bumps, and I soon felt much improved. I retreated to the living room plopped down on the couch and prepared for a serious morning of cartoon-watching.

Mom was perplexed. She wanted to know why I wasn’t getting dressed for school.

School?! With “pink lady’s lotion” all over my mug?

“Well, most certainly yes,” said Mom.

My protests drew no sympathy. “Off to school, young man…..and don’t be late.”

When I got there, classes had already started. I hesitatingly opened the door to my classroom and entered with my silly pink geisha girl face complete with tear stains down the cheeks.

What to my surprise should I see but all of my buddies already in class - - and every last one of them slathered all over with “pink lady’s lotion.”

Whew. Was I relieved!

Neil Garrison is employed as a naturalist at Martin Park Nature Center (Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation Department).