Sunburn

I sit on the swing overlooking the marsh and rub fresh-picked aloe onto my sun-burnt legs. I wonder briefly why I don’t have aloe at home. Once established, it grows very easily—almost like a weed. And it soothes burns so well.

But I know the reason that I don’t have any is that I don’t really need it. In Columbia we seldom have days nice enough to spend entirely outdoors. When we do, we are seldom in swimsuits.

When I lived at the beach I never burned. I never even used sunscreen. My skin was baked brown, and I could spend the entire day lying on the beach with no thought to protecting myself from the sun.

Now, because I have two small children, I am constantly fretting over the damaging rays of the sun. I own several different bottles of sunscreen, in varying degrees of protection. Some are for sensitive baby skin; some are waterproof; some spray on. I bought the kids the shirts that surfers wear, because they block harmful UV rays. We wear hats. And, for the first time in my life, I am battling a beach umbrella. Those things are frustrating. But Laila’s skin is so tender, and I know I need to keep her out of the sun.

But I am stubborn. I still refuse to apply sunscreen to myself. I still believe I have the same skin I had five years ago, even though my legs are pale and ghastly white. (Whose legs are those, I wonder, whenever I see current pictures of myself.)

I took Connor kayaking this week. We paddled (or rather I paddled) around the marshes of Litchfield for about 1 ½ hours. It was great. We saw fish jumping. We went under the bridge. We crept up on a heron that had a fish hanging out of its mouth.

But it didn’t occur to me that while kayaking, we would be in the sun. Stupid, I know.

Fortunately Connor was wearing a tee-shirt under his life vest, long shorts, and the cast cover that he has to wear. But he didn’t have on a hat, and his cheeks are pink.

I was wearing a bathing suit and a life jacket, and my legs are blistered. They are throbbing. I feel like what I am: a tourist.

“Did you wear sunscreen?” Lee asked when he saw my blistered legs.
I gave him a sheepish smile.

“Idiot!” he exclaimed. “Has it ever occurred to you that whenever you make a decision, you should, as a matter of course, do the complete opposite?”

Ouch.

But I feel great. I am completely relaxed from a day spent in the sun. Life is so much slower and calmer here. It’s a different experience being a tourist. I don’t have to squeeze the normal routines of life into my time at the beach. It’s nice.

If only we could stay here forever.