first burn of the summer

by D.O.

This post is really nothing other than an attempt to further kill my pride by showing a picture of my absolutely terrible sunburn. Not terrible in the sense that it will undoubtedly lead to skin cancer or in the sense that it is unbelievably painful.

No, the picture says it all really. You see Colby’s strawberry colored (and shaped) back next to Matt’s evenly burnt back. And then there’s my leporic flesh on the end. Why is that a shot to the pride you ask? Well…

Its not like I, for the first time this summer, suddenly ended up with pale skin. No, pasty skin has been one of my defining characteristics for each of my 24 years. I usually joke about how white I am, saying that I’m basically see-through and that I can get burned by simply walking to my car in the parking lot. Faithful readers will remember the great lawn mowing burn of ’05 (and the most wheels-off comment from a stranger odfm has ever seen that followed). I’m no stranger to summers of SPF 50 followed by layers and layers of Aloe Vera gel thereafter. That’s why this burn is so humbling.

See, I put sunscreen on before our 2 hour 15 minute volleyball outing on Sunday. Problem is… I put it on my body after I had just mowed the yard, which made for a very wet canvas for the vanishing white paint. Deep down I knew better, but I went ahead and let it slide. The result: a splotchy, not so easy on the eyes sunburn that, though less painful that Colby’s, is evidence of a rookie mistake from a guy who should be varsity in the sunscreen application arena.

Here’s to a yet another summer in Texas.