Ivy League

Mom, it was good to be with you last weekend! Thanks for sitting with us on McAlister's deck for three hours. We won't forget it! I enjoy how you disagree with me openly. You never do it in a way that makes me feel like an enemy or like I am beneath you. I feel empowered when you challenge me . . . and sometimes I learn something. :-) We're looking forward to seeing the rest of the family next month!

We been busy lately. I've got too much stuff to do and because Nicole's travel consultant privileges will soon come to an end we're going to Jamaica next week for "study week". Probably not wise in some ways, but in others this is a very good thing and I'm hoping my poison ivy will clear up by then. Noel, remember when I got infected just before I came to visit you back in '98? Man, we popped that blister! Well, today I got a shot of some kind of steroid or somethin' in my butt and I took a diluted clorox bath before that. I like to be pretty "natural" about seeking a homeostatic existence, but I was desperately willing to do just about anything to recover from this "plague" of sorts. I haven't been able to touch my wife for days and the puss oozes out of my boils in a disgusting way. My advice to people is don't inhale, touch, or go gambolling through any kind of poison plants. And don't wreck your bike in it. And don't scratch it--even two weeks later!

To Poison Ivy:

I hope that I can escape your devlish wiles
on the forest floor
You don't deserve anyone's smiles
as you have heyday in the moors.

For you I wish no Irish blessing,
but the future harmless new creation
But if that's not possible, I hope you wither.