Week 28 of 2012 Burn Baby Burn

Burn Baby Burn....and I wondered if it referred to forest fires, campfires or tons of candles on my latest birthday cake (61 to be exact)!  But this refers to sunburn...something I totally understand!  I still today envy the smooth, tanned skin of those with darker complexions.  I happen to have skin exactly like my father....freckles, red skin that might hold a little color...but I wouldn't call it tan....and plenty of blotches.  I think as a child I knew early on that tanning would never be an easy or good thing for me.

 I remember getting burned very badly on our family vacation to the cottage at Lakeport.  I was just out too long and without sunscreen I burned bad enough to run a temperature, feel quite sick and then have the whole top layer of skin peel off.  Now that's a good way to wreck a week's vacation!  Maybe this picture from the Lake Huron beach at the cottage was part of that bad sunburn and now I'm......covering up!

  (See Grandpa Anderson in the background) Note the second picture when I'm sure Dad had a smart remark to encourage a smile.....as a child I hated these two photos and would get upset when Dad put them in the family picture shows!

As a teenager, a tan (sunburn for me!) was still desirable.  We...my friends and I...went to extreme lengths to get that tan.  We wrapped large pieces of cardboard in aluminum foil and would lay on it to "catch more rays."  Somewhere I got the idea to pour iodine  (used for cuts and scraps) into baby oil and grease up with that.  I guess the red/orange iodine gave us some instant color.  I don't remember having sunscreen around or being vigilant about wearing it either.  Then there were the times that we laid on the roof...a porch worked perfectly.  Once the Smith's moved to Imlay City, the door going out the second floor of the back of the house....Mark and Matt's bedroom....was a perfect roof to sunbathe on.  Why?  I'm not sure, but we did it.

Now with all the emphasis on sunscreen and all the products that are readily available to seek protection from the suns rays and the melanoma fears, tanning is still a year round activity.  Tanning beds in tanning parlors and private homes, spray tan....painting the skin????...yes I've done that, too....plus all sorts of artificial tanning products that take 20 minutes to develop and wear off if you shower too often and also leave a telltale ring in the hot tub.  YES, I've done that too!  There's no reason to BURN BABY BURN!