On those days when the sun manages to come out, it really is nice to get out in it, if possible. You can feel the warmth, provided you can avoid the north wind we seem to get on regular basis. It just feels so comforting. Like a big warm hug.
Except that sun can be deceptive. And can even hurt you if you let it.
I was outside a bit on the weekend and couldn’t help but notice that in spite of the fact I was still largely covered up, my hands ended up a slightly different colour than other body parts. Okay, it was while I was doing dishes on Monday and stuck my hands in hot water that I suddenly noticed. It hurt a bit. What was that all about. Wait, hands area bit red, the rest of my arms are not.
I had used sunscreen. On my face. Probably should have put some on my hands as well.
I try not to forget the sunscreen. It is fairly important. Although I grew up in a time when sunscreen was not a thing. We were tossed outside at this time of year to essentially “get it over with”. You know. Get those first couple of sunburns going so you could build up a bit of resistance. Not to worry, because if you got a burn there was always Noxema or, if you were lucky, maybe some Solarcaine. But sunscreen? No such thing.
Now I know there are those who simply tan when exposed to the sun. My mother was like that. I did not inherit those genes. She had no problems with the sun. I am not so lucky.
In fact yesterday, I went to see my doctor. She sprayed me with liquid nitrogen. I thought liquid nitrogen was something you used in science class to freeze a banana in a few seconds so you could shattered in into a million pieces. I didn’t have a banana. I have this little thing on the side of my face called actinic keratosis or solar keratosis. It’s basically an area of the skin which is sun damaged. Not a big deal. Just a little rough spot. But if left untreated a very few of these spots will turn cancerous. So the do. what they call cryosurgery. They freeze the spot until it goes away.
So I am becoming much more of a sunscreen user at this point in my life. It’s just one little spot. Nothing to be concerned about. Except I have had a spot that I ignored for a while and it turned into something that was a greater concern. That was handled in a different way. A way I would really like to avoid in the future. So I’ll get my little spot frozen, thank you. And most importantly, wear sunscreen and just try to avoid all such things in the future. Because you just don’t know in advance.
By the way, the freezing thing? It’s not too bad. But next time I’m taking a banana.