Passing on this info from CALM with an extra note. If you are packing, please bring long sleeved/long legged clothing to protect you from the poison ivy/oak, especially if you intend to venture off the trail! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ poison ivy/poison oak is everywhere! it is so bad that several people have been sent to the hospital for systemic poisoning (throughout the whole body) and have need high doses of predinisone. CALAMINE LOTION DOES NOT WORK in this situation it was discussed that a viable treatment to keep this from getting any further out of control is to set up wash/shower stations atL CALM, Kiddie village and other various kitchens around the gathering. each shower space is for poison ivy/oak ONLY each shower space will need to be equiped with a bottle of special soap that is capable of cutting through the oil from the plant. called tincture of green soap. it's a liquid and a small amount (teaspoon or two) go a long way (kinda like dr bronners) "tincture of green soap" can only be found in stock at a compound pharmacy. please go to your phone books and look up a compounding pharmacy to pick up a couple bottles or more if you can. What's Needed: lots of homeopathic RusTox 30c - found at a health food store. lots of tea tree oil lots of witch hazel (cheap, can get in first aid area at ks, safeway, walmart) lots of camp showers lots of small 6 oz empty plastic travel bottles to put soap in for all the shower sites lots of bentonite clay -( compound pharmacy or health food store) lots of tincture of green soap (compound pharmacy) of course lots of packets of emergen-c charcoal grapefruit seed extract (GSE) i am getting close to leaving town myself - lots of loose ends to tie up, should be on the ground thursday noonish. would someone please forward this info to agr for me? i'm not signed up on agr and am swamped with other calm stuff. thanks a ton! looking forward to seeing you all and working with you again! lovin you and many blessings in your travels
How are the hippies being systemicly poisoned? Are they burning poison ivy? I can see how that could happen, if you're not paying enough attention to what's in your woodpile, or if you're not foresighted enough to gather firewood before dark. The vines cling to host trees by aerial roots. Hard to miss, once you know you're supposed to look for it. Pull the vines off before you throw the log in the fire. I don't think the dry wood is terribly toxic, but the smoke sure is
I remember one time, many years ago, I was camping with a group of kids outside of Santa Cruz (Is it Henry Tyler State Park? I can't remember) and I got infected just how WT described. People were breaking dead limbs off trees in the middle of the night for firewood. The limbs had poison oak vines on them and were heaped on the fire. I was stoking the fire, as I usually do, and was exposed to the smoke. When I woke up in the moring I was completely covered from the waist up on the whole left side of my body and face with poison oak. I could barley open my mouth and my left eye was swollen shut. I was on the road at the time but had two homies who had an apartment in Santa Cruz. They took me in for a week while I took at least ten hot showers a day and literally (as well as quite liberally) slathered myself in betonite clay. I was also infected in the throat and lungs and had to take prescription anti-biotics for that (Thank you Santa Cruz free clinic). When you get poison oak that bad it does not itch, it freakin' burns. BTW, Operation Desert Storm (or was it Shield) started that same day and I remember sitting and watching the (first) Gulf War on CNN for like 12 hours a day as I sat on the couch and slowly healed up. Anybody else remember the video of the 'smart bomb' going down an Iragi chimney? I must have seen that one a thousand times.
the good news is poison ivy is sensitive to being touched and will die off from excessive contact. so if they keep going at it eventually it will run out
i came home from katuah gathering with mad poison ivy and poison oak last week! welcome to the eastern u.s. one of the things you don't think of is your shoes. as you walk through the forest & bushes and then step into your tent or handle your shoes, you transfer the poison oils to your skin. also if you sleep with your dog, think about what he runs through all day and gets all over his fur! if it's there and you are suseptable -you'll get it. mine's just now clearing up from a week ago. big thing - DON'T SCRATCH - it spreads the poison! this is very difficult. my mantra was "i will not scratch. i am one with the poison ivy. i will let it flow through me. it is not real". quote that about 20 times in a row and see what happens. lol. "less bumpy" in tampa - chime
