It’s no secret I love gardening. The satisfaction from watching a seedling sprout and eventually grow into a mature plant is just heaven. I try to spend as much time as possible in the garden, but this hobby does come with its risks.
Last week I was stung by a wasp, multiple times, right through my gardening glove. I was finishing up dividing plants for a benefit plant sale, and when I got to the last pot, turns out there were some wasps hanging out in there. Ouch. I’ve been stung and bitten before by insects galore—it comes with the hobby, but this time I had a pretty intense localized reaction. Let’s just say my hand turned into a lobster claw before long. When benadryl didn’t do the trick, I saw a physician and was in a sling and on steroids in no time. I’m all better now, but couldn’t play piano for a few days.
While this was the first sting incident that had me side-lined, it was by no means my first gardening accident.
One season I managed to get my hand stuck in one of those yellow oscillating sprinklers. I guess I was trying to save time by moving it while it was still on. That was a mistake. The EMS team was called and when they found out I was a pianist they didn’t want to touch it. I was soaking wet, sprinkler attached to my hand and begging for a screwdriver. What a mess.
Last year I was moving heavy rocks around my property. Even though I was double-gloved, when I dropped one on my pinky, the result was a “crushing injury”. Just imagine what would happen if you just squeezed a really ripe tomato. Yep. In a moment pinky guts were on the outside of pinky. Six weeks, no piano.
So gardeners take heed. And music lovers: I promise to be even more careful. xo Robin