Beware the Ferns

They look innocent, don't they? Sweet woodland ferns growing wild? I learned the hard way that they can be deceptively violent!

Caution: A tale of blood ahead:

While doing some cleanup in the yard, I started pulling up stray ferns that have poked their way up throughout the garden. It did not occur to me to doubt the gentle nature of such peaceful looking forest dwellers , and they were coming up easily with a little pull. However, hidden within the midst of one clump were some dried fronds that waited patiently for their moment to strike.

When I gave a certain stem a tug it resisted me, and with my second pull it fought back by snapping in my hands. "OUCH!", I cried, and dropped the foliage. Looking at my hands I saw that the broken stem had splintered and a part of it was sticking out of my middle finger. It stung terribly, so I grabbed the end of the sliver to pull it out. I pulled and pulled and was wide-eyed at how long it was. ("YEeee-Ouch!!") Blood now started to flow from two holes in my finger...the woodland dagger had gone clear through!

I cupped my hand to avoid dripping blood and walked into the house, where Ken asked: "What have you got?", as he thought I had found something very interesting. "Um, just blood...", I replied, somewhat shaken.

So I let it bleed a little in the sink, and washed it well, then Ken applied a very large bandage around the victimized finger. By bedtime it was driving me nuts (and looked a little obscene, I thought...it WAS the middle finger, you know), so I pulled off the wrapping and it was sore, but fine.

Today it simply looks bruised...and maybe a little traumatized. I guess you know that I won't trust ferns again. When I head out to finish the cleanup job I'll be wearing gloves for sure. And I'll be "packing"....clippers! Beware the Ferns!!