After Jin's graduation in May, we geared up for our big summer vacay to New York City. Jin's cousin, Esther, was getting married and Bella was a flower girl in the ceremony. Jin's Gomo and Gomo-bu (Aunt and Uncle) took pity on us traveling with two young kids and graciously opened their home to us for most of our visit (thank you!). Their beautiful sprawling home was nestled in the quiet lake-side community of Lake Success in the up-scale suburb of Great Neck. It was quite a contrast from the bustling noise of the city that I was always used to when visiting NYC. As we explored the surrounding landscape - filled with trees and green, grassy knolls - it made me pause to think what it would be like to live in Great Neck, or New York. Jin thought the same thing. Closer to family for both of us, near a major metropolis...
We were in Great Neck for 4 days and although we did little more than lounge around and relax, it was nice to have a large backyard where Bella could frolic free like a wild horse. Jin, Uncle Sun and I took turns submitting to Bella's incessant requests to play hide-and-seek outside. The bushes in the backyard were a perfect haven for expert hiders and seekers. But after the umpteenth round of play, I decided to create a more "independent" game. With all the surrounding foliage, I thought it would be interesting and educational (not to mention liberating for me, at least temporarily) to look at the different types of leaves from the various trees. Bella rose to the challenge and within 20 minutes, managed to collect an array of leaves of all different shapes and sizes:
After displaying her finds on top of the brick divider, she carefully placed each leaf in a plastic bag and went to show Gomo her treasures. One by one, she picked out a leaf and waited for the ooh's and aaah's of approval from her newfound Bella fan-club, until one large triangular leaf-formation in particular caught the suspicious eye of Gomo. Gomo's mouth dropped and she quickly ran towards Bella and snatched the bag of leaves from her hands. It was poison ivy!!!
Poison ivy with characteristic three-leaf formation and leaves with notched sides
Sure enough, my innocent game of "find the foliage" turned into a race against time as we immediately stripped Bella down and threw her into the shower. Gomo gave us a poison ivy scrub that, when used immediately and vigorously, prevents the oils from the leaves from producing the itchy rash. I scrubbed her from head to toe nearly raw with the medication and prayed it would work. Poor Bella was in shock from all the commotion. In the end, Bella was fine. No rash appeared, and because of the ordeal, I will never forget what poison ivy looks like. At least my new game was educational! And best of all, Bella ceased to ask us to play hide-and-seek outdoors anymore! Win-win!
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