C.B. Murphy  .:. Writer

Sometimes trying to be a friend of the earth feels like one of those one-sided relationships where you keep getting rejected but find one more reason to try again. Still, there’s probably a good reason that phrase—“conquering nature”—has fallen out of favor. We prefer to think of ourselves as partnering with nature, even though occasionally bending it to create a new subspecies of peony, or mixing a poodle with a Labrador doesn’t seem like such a terrible idea. I doubt if nature cares too much, one way or the other.

Nevertheless, there are many aspects of nature we’d like to declare war on, though that metaphor is also out of fashion. From crab grass to bald-faced hornets to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, we don’t have to go far to find an aspect of nature that feels like an enemy. My favorite nature enemy of the moment is poison ivy.
It’s an innocent looking plant, resembling at least a half dozen completely harmless weeds, yet harboring one of the strongest contact poisons in the plant world. Even the name of its toxin—urushiol—sounds like a demon escaped from the netherworld. The fact that it’s a distant cousin of the mango and cashew only confuses the situation.

This spring I thought I was up to the task of eliminating some of this noxious plant from our property. I suited up properly and thought I was taking all the necessary precautions, but I still ended up with a nasty rash on both arms.
I wondered if I might have gotten it from our new puppy and did some research. I ‘googled’ all kinds of sites, talked to triage nurses and veterinarians, but no one had a better answer than: wash your dog after possible exposure. Is that the best we’ve come up since dogs were domesticated about 15,000 years ago?

On top of that, I discovered poison ivy’s active ingredient, urushiol, can creatively mess with your immune system enough to cause rashes to erupt in places that didn’t even come into contact with the plant. Hey, no fair. Unless it’s a war and if it is, maybe we should appoint a czar and declare a War on Poison Ivy. That worked for the War on Drugs, didn’t it?

I think we have to admit we are locked into a love-hate relationship with nature. We love puppies, gardens, fishing, and boating, but hate wasps, poison ivy, and that stupid buck that totaled your new Prius. My friend who works for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals didn’t want to walk to the lakeshore for fear of ticks. We can’t escape the paradox of our situation.

It could be worse. There could be a dozen plants in our environment as nasty as poison ivy, and bald-face hornets could grow as large as squirrels. It makes sense to keep some perspective. I’ve heard it said that one aspect of wisdom is accepting things you cannot change. Let’s count our blessings, including not getting a czar for yet another war that would be very difficult to win.