Red and Rover by Brian Basset for July 31, 2021

Red is a contortionist. Who knew?

“it’s gonna’ take an ocean of calamine lotion…”

sorry, Red…Mom will know wat to do

Whaf?

It’s the new dance craze, poison Ivy!

Maybe Red and River should bee line for their swimming pool, lemonade and most importantly, MOM!.

Hurry home, boys…before Rover starts to scritch!

Red reminds me of how I’d often look when I was that age. Parents would stand me nude on a kitchen chair and dab calamine on the PI spots. When done I had pink polka dots all over.

Don’t scratch, Red, don’t scratch!!

You will spread it all over! ( She says with the wisdom of both having had it as a child, then dealing with it on my child when he was a child )

Never scratch poison ivy! :-((

Poor, poor Red!

Wait until he gets poison shoe mac. (sumac)

Better head home, Red! You just KNOW mom will say I told you so….

You’ll be scratchin’ like a hound!

If it IS poison Ivy, Rover won’t get it, but will spread it to anyone who touches him.

Mom probably already knows he was going to get poison ivy (by the way he wasn’t listening when she warned him earlier) and has everything he’ll need ready.

I was so allergic to poison ivy I can get it when walking down wind of a lush patch. Made fatal mistake of telling a bully how allergic I was to poison ivy, & he tossed me into a huge ivy patch. Back in 1940 treatment was brown laundry soap, or a stinging fluid that looked like dark whiskey. In 1960 I was employed at Hallmark Cards Inc in KC MO. My wife & I lived in Overland Park KS. Being born raised in Eastern NJ, & my wife on Connecticut we never heard of or experienced chiggers until walking in tall grass & fields in KS & MO.

I soaked in a bathtub full of salt water. It stung like crazy, but when it was over, the itching was gone.

I was fortunate enough to be totally immune (as was my brother) to poison oak and poison ivy. But I found out the hard way, a few years ago, that my immunity had worn off. :-(

A breakout like that ought to teach him to stay away from that stuff. I learned to stay away from poison oak after a horrible experience like that.

Your mom warned you Red.

Time to go home clean up then get covered in calamine lotion.

Should’ve listened to your mom, Red.

’You’ll be scratchin’ like a hound The minute you start to mess around Poison Ivy…’