HEALTH HELL
When All My Head Holes Swelled Shut … Almost
Poison oak and I don’t get along
I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea, but I did.
Perhaps being an 18-year-old adventurous idiot dude had something to do with it.
Perhaps not.
My nonexistent experience with just how bad a poison oak rash could be may have had something to do with it as well.
Regardless, I hiked two times in three days in a local poison-oak-choked foothill area near my then-home in Southern California.
On hike number two I was already starting to break out from the effects of my poison oak exposure during hike number one.
Ah yes, the idiocy and unstoppability, and palpable invulnerability, of being a young strong man.
Did I mention that I stopped to pee in the woods during both hikes?
And, contrary to popular belief, the rash of poison oak is spread by the tenacious oil from the plants which coats every surface it brushes against, like one’s hands.
The cleverest among you may see where this is going already. But even if you’re already a step ahead of most, stay strapped in for the ride.
