A Year of Blogging: May 27, 2011

Today is Sunscreen Protection Day. I know as a kid, I ran around in the yard without giving thought to sunscreen. In fact, I have pictures of me as a child and my skin is very tan. I don't know how on earth I got that tan, because I am very pale. Mom put sunscreen on us when we went to the beach, but she didn't put it on us when we were just playing in the yard. No, she wasn't a bad mother. People just didn't use sunscreen as much. We weren't as aware of the dangers of the sun. Sunshine was good. You went out and played in it and 'blew the stink off' of you. I know Mom used sunscreen on us more than Grandma used on her. I don't think my Grandmother ever used sunscreen. When I was a teenager, I would grab a good book, stretch out the chaise lounge in the middle of the yard, and sunbathe. Since I'm so pale, I always wanted some color to look 'healthy'. (How our vision of 'healthy' has changed!) As I got older, I wasn't able to attain that bronze color I had as a child. I started using sunscreen when I went to the races with Dad. Dad would end up so red, and Grandma's remedy was to pour vinegar over the burn. I didn't want to meet that same fate, so I used sunscreen. When I did get a slight burn, I soothed it with aloe vera. My view of sunscreen, and habits using it, changed when I was 17. The summer before my Senior Year of High School I attended a special program at the University of Pennsylvania. It was a Communication program. I lived in a dorm for three weeks in West Philadelphia (a pretty scary place for a country kid!). I attended classes taught by college professors, in college buildings. It was my first taste of college. It was also what made me decide to major in Communication. On weekends, we had field trips. The first one was to the Jersey Shore. We got there around 11am. I walked on a boardwalk for the first time. I let the sand squirm between my toes. Then I stretched out my beach towel, covered myself with sunblock, and fell asleep. I was asleep on the beach for several hours- during the peak hours of sunlight. Worse- I fell asleep with my ankles crossed, so the very painful sunburn I had was also in an odd pattern- part of one leg was almost purple, and then from mid-calf down, it was white. With this odd curve separating the two colors where my other leg had crossed over it. I can honestly say, that was the worst sunburn of my life! There were three other girls in my dorm room, and one of them was burned worse than I was. She too had fallen asleep, but she hadn't put any sunscreen on, and she ended up getting sun poisoning. The next day, she couldn't move. It hurt her to wear clothes. She was naseous and sick, and missed several days of classes. I was a little better- but it hurt. Even a week later, I was still bright red. The second week, our field trip was to New York City. We were on our own to go wherever we wanted- I chose 5th Avenue. (Really? I went shopping?- Shocker!) I went into Saks 5th Avenue, and quickly clued in that I could not afford anything in that store. But I wanted to buy something. So I went to the Estee Lauder counter to buy a tube of lipstick so I could say I bought something at Saks 5th Avenue. The clerk at the counter saw my sunburn, and told me she had just the thing for it. She introduced me to Estee Lauder's After Sun Care. It is this creamy lotion that soothes the skin. It cools, and heals, and has a nice light airy smell. I still use it, although now I use it every time I've been out in the sun. After that sunburn, I learned my lesson. I started using sun block more and more. As I entered my 20's, we started hearing about the dangers of the sun. We started taking it more seriously. And I saw people in their 50s who had been sun worshippers, who had leathery unattractive skin. So now I take sunscreen seriously, although I admit I don't wear it every day. I know they say you should. I don't. But I do wear it if I know I'm going to be in the sun for more than a few minutes. Somewhere along the way, I decided the paleness wasn't so bad. So I wear SPF 100, and I still have to reapply a couple of times. Then I come back inside and use my Estee Lauder lotion. Sure, there are times I forget my sunscreen. I'm only human. I usually forget it in the spring- that first nice day I've been outside after being cooped up all winter. That one little burn is enough to remind me to use it the next time I go out.