Poison ivy leaves, which grow in threes, can be as large as your hand.
In the June 2024 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living print magazine, I wrote my monthly Woods, Waters, & Wildlife outdoors column about pesky poison ivy in a story titled “Leaves of three, let it be!” In the July 2024 issue, I described my custom-made hiking staff in a column called “Walking-stick work of art.” It wasn’t long before I heard from Bertille Mayberry, commenting on both stories.
A Carroll Electric Cooperative member living in east-central Ohio, Bertille is one of my favorite people. We’ve never met face to face, but I hope to meet her someday. She’s an has led a very full life — much of it spent outdoors — and she enjoys telling me about her lifetime of adventures via “Ask Chip” emails. I enjoy reading her many stories about rural life years ago. In addition, her notes are always encouraging to me as a writer, and at the same time, often hilarious. Maybe I should consider writing an in-depth “Co-op People” story profiling her. Below is a sample of Bertille at her best:
Bertille Mayberry
Hi, Chip: I am one of the few Buckeyes who has never had a reaction to urushiol [poison ivy]. Neither has my father and a maternal uncle. Years of hiking, camping, and Girl Scouting, and later foraging for morels and elderberries, yet never a spot. My dad also, who was a dedicated hiker and squirrel hunter.
I even used to test it [poison ivy] as a child and [intentionally] pick it. Nothing. I have more sense now, and I’m VERY careful not to bring it to anyone else, as my children get poison ivy very bad. My brother’s worst case was contracted while playing “army” as a kid, when he was lying on his belly in the weeds. He developed a painful red crust over all his abdomen. A childhood friend got a bad exposure from riding a pony who had rolled in poison ivy. She started the school year with seeping sores down the insides of her legs. So, I am careful of exposing other people to it; my garden gloves stay out in the greenhouse and my “outside shoes” stay by the back door.
I also liked the story of your walking stick. It’s a beauty. After recent illnesses, I actually need a cane, but have a variety of walking sticks — one really nice blackthorn from Ireland. But everyone makes them too short. Yours is much better. I will picture you beating back pumas and bears.
