sun

August is vacation time for me. I run a full schedule the rest of the year, often taking on more professional and personal commitments than is wise, but August signifies time for rest and relaxation. That means beach for me. I spend as much time as I can at any beach, day trips, week vacation, visiting friends or relatives at the beach.

When I begin my regular routine again in September, catching up with everyone I haven't seen, this is what I hear, repeatedly. "Oh, you got a lot of color." I don't say thank you. I'm not sure this is a compliment. They may be thinking, what are you, nuts? Ruining your skin? Encouraging skin cancer? Shortening your life for those few moments in the sun?

My mother was a self-professed health researcher. She came by the profession naturally. Her father was a research chemist and professor. She was a nutrition major with a chemistry minor. She spent the latter several decades researching health. Not what was making the 6 o'clock news. She delved into what wasn't making the 6 o'clock news. From the very beginning, she said stay away from sunscreen; that stuff is full of chemicals. Like many of our fabulous synthetic concoctions of the 20th and 21th century, sunscreen presented to her as just another substance that allowed you to override your body's natural signals. I believed her then; I believe her now.

I love the water, the sand, and yes, I love the sun. But I don't stay out in it all day. I'm out in the morning and in the afternoon. Through the middle of the day, I stay out of the sun because...it will BURN ME!! That does not seem like a good idea. When I can feel the sun getting too hot, before my skin starts feeling brittle and dry and uncomfortable, I get out of the sun. Is this rocket science? Over time, my skin behaves the way it was designed to, and produces a golden—dare I say it?—healthy-looking bronze tone. Taking in the sun's rays feels good to me. Hmmm. Hard to decipher why this would be? I do have a bachelor's degree in science, but I don't think one needs any  B.S. to recognize that the large majority of living organisms on this planet require sunlight for growth and vibrant life. Sun is good for us. In moderation, like anything else.

The new spin in all the magazines and on the news is exactly this: that humans benefit from being in the sun. Wow. News flash. We are now not only permitted, but encouraged to take 15 minutes a day without sunscreen in the sun. And, interestingly enough, sunscreens in number that approach three digits are now frowned upon in most circles. Skin professionals have stopped recommending anything higher than around 30 because the chemical content is too high. Let's think about that...and take a guess that using tons of 15 or 8 or whatever probably isn't the greatest idea either.

One could say to me, you are lucky, you have that "mediterranean skin," as my mother called it, that tans such a nice golden color. What does a fair-skinned red head do? Wears sun screen when unavoidable, and stays under the umbrella! I can burn, too. I live under the umbrella much of the time. And I've worn sunscreen. When I'm going out on a boat, or doing some adventure day trip in the tropics or something and I know it's going to make life really difficult if I try to get completely out of the sun for much of the day. But I don't embrace slathering on the fancy-smelling stuff like I'm doing something really healthy for myself. Slathering on sunscreen and going out for hours in sun that is too intense for your skin seems akin to drinking too much or smoking cigarettes. It may seem to be just what you want at the moment, but it is clearly not something your body agrees with!