A natural poll

[filkerdave]

Because I'm super-busy at work, I need to get this out of my head so I can stop wondering about it. It's something I was thinking about as I was hiking this weekend (6 miles or so on Saturday, and a nice 10+ on Sunday).

LJ-only, since you can't crosspost polls

Poll And outdoorsy poll

Comments

[catalana]

I actually was taught "leaves of three, leave them be" but close enough to "let it be."

[smoooom]

Part of

Berries White take flight
Leaves of three let them be.

Curious how that last line changes, but still means the same thing.

[filkerdave]

Interesting. In scouts I learned it as:

Leaves of three, don't touch me
Berries white, poisonous sight!

[smoooom]

This is cool, folk process applied to safety tips. My mind boggles.

[rapunzelita]

Completely tangential. But. "Leaves of three" reminded me of this comic by Emily Carroll. It's kind of horrible but really awesome.

(Also you might have missed it because it's only on google.co.uk I think, but check out the Google Doodle today, it's seriously awesome!)

[filkerdave]

It's on google.com here in the US also :)

[rapunzelita]

Funny. When I tell Google to display google.com it doesn't show it... I guess it's because it displays a standard version.

[thnidu]

That's scary!

[carbonel]

"let them be"

[silme]

Let them be was what I was taught.

Unless you were my father. Neither poison ivy nor oak bothered him. He used to pull up poison oak by the roots using his bare hands -- and it didn't affect him. I never attempted it myself, so I don't know if that gene passed down to me. I know it escaped my sister -- she touched the poison oak at a young age and wasn't a happy camper later, shall we say.

[peteralway]

At the Kalamazoo Nature Center they never used that rhyme, but always warned us with prose, and pictures that all looked different from any real plant I ever saw. I still can't identify the stuff.

I never heard the "Leaves of three" rhyme until I saw Homer quote it in The Simpsons:

"Leaves of three, let it be
Leaves of four, eat some more."

If it weren't for doctors' orders, I'd ideally get out walking in nature about a tenth as much as I do. But the choices were essentially nature or a torture chamber gym or fitness center, so it was an obvious pick for me.