Last Sunday, I was out in the woods behind our house raking some leaves away from our fence and clearing out some vines. It turns out that mixed in with those vines was some poison oak/ivy/sumac.

Sunday night, we were out on the patio and I thought I was being attacked by mosquitoes. The truth, however, was that I was developing a rash in reaction to the oil of the poison whatever that I had come in contact with earlier in the day. By Monday afternoon, I had big blistered areas all over my left arm.

I did some research online and figured out that it was poison whatever. To my dismay, I found that there is nothing that you can do for it other than wait. You can treat the symptoms with lotions and anti-histamines, but there's not much you can do for the rash.

So, last week I wore long sleeves all week to keep my rash covered, for my sake and the sake of my co-workers. I was trying to avoid scratching it and also trying to avoid having to deal with the myth that poison whatever it contagious.

I found out that the rash is not contagious; not even the "ooze" that comes from the rash can spread it. The rash is an allergic reaction to oil put out by the plant. So, the only way to spread poison whatever is to spread the oil.

Today, is the first day that I have worn short sleeves that reveal my rash. The rash is healing, but there are still red areas all over my arm. I saw one of my co-workers in the hallway and he reacted as if my arm was bleeding profusely. He asked in a very concerned voice, "What happened to your arm?" My first instinct was to tell him I have leprosy, but I decided against it. I told him I had poison oak, or ivy, or something, and he reacted like he was going to catch it from me. I was sort of surprised that he didn't start scratching himself right then.

I have to say that I've always underestimated the power of poison ivy and its cousins. As a kid, I played in the woods all the time and never had to deal with it, that I remember, but I knew other kids that did. I've always thought, "It can't be that bad."

However, after last week, I have a new respect for the poisonous plants. Before getting some medication to help reduce the itching sensation, it was difficult to concentrate on anything other than NOT scratching my arm.

If I were a writer for the show 24, I would try to work it into the script where Jack dips someone in a vat of Urushiol oil to get information out of them about the location of the bomb.

Speaking of Jack and 24, the season finale is tonight.