One of my tasks today is to be a poison ivy spotter. Not a poison ivy eradicator; I’m too allergic to the stuff. But I do have an eye for it. I can spot it glistening in the myrtle or spreading beneath a sea of stilt grass.

Poison ivy vines are another matter. They hide everywhere, including underground, and it’s hard to imagine complete eradication. Still, I’m all for trying.

So I’ve spent a lot of time this morning bending and crouching, looking for three leaves rather than the five, seeing the poison plant as a shark underwater, the spiky leaves the fish’s fearsome teeth.