One Mean Pepper

I try to post regularly, but yesterday I had a solid excuse since I temporarily lost the use of my fingertips.  I’d been visiting Mexican grocery stores for Brokelyn so I had stocked up on a variety of peppers.  Last night, I decided to make a simple, fresh salsa – just chopped tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, lime, salt to taste, and the most evil little jalapeño you could ever hope to know.  I thought I was being careful though I didn’t wear gloves which I’d been warned about by the shopkeeper.  I disposed of the seeds and veins where the heat hides, avoided rubbing my eyes, and washed my hands frequently. Then as I was cleaning up, the pain started.  There was no outward sign, just a slight pinkness at the tips and a persistent throb, like I’d put my hand to a burner for a second but couldn’t take it away.  I pecked my way through Google to find quick cures and tried everything on hand – vegetable oil, butter, milk, yogurt, pink salve, alcohol.  The pain would subside, but after a few minutes it would come back stronger, as though everything I tried to neutralize the capsaicin, that had seeped onto my skin, was only making the pepper mad.  I finally gave up and fell asleep gripping an ice pack like an arctic teddy bear.  There are of course better ways to handle a hot pepper, and this link takes you to a site that explains how.  By this morning it had mostly gone away, there was just a little bit of heat, just to let me know it was still there.  It was one mean pepper.