SPF 30

I should own stock in Banana Boat products. Or Neutragena or Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen. I have them all. If you were to look in both my medicine cabinet at home and my car's glove compartment, you'd find no fewer than five kinds of sunscreen in various SPF strengths. I sometimes feel like the "sun products" aisle at my local pharmacy. This is something new for me, I must admit. I'm old enough to remember when we didn't even use sunscreen - we lathered up in "suntan lotion." Yep, we put stuff on our bodies to help us absorb more of those powerful rays, not less. Later on in my life as a northerner, after sunscreen was common, I considered the sun such a precious visitor that I rarely bothered with any protection. I just burned - and enjoyed it.

But in South Florida, burning is not a practical approach to outdoor life. If I didn't wear sunscreen, I'd look like a red chili pepper. Balanced on two bright red legs. Yet despite all these years here, I confess it's still taken me a long time to realize I have to apply sunscreen even when going out for short excursions. Largely, this revelation dawned on me as the result of owning a convertible. I can put the top down for a mid-day drive and come home 30 minutes later with a two-tone complexion: every part of me that was exposed is one color, every part that wasn't exposed is another color. I suspect this is the fair-skinned curse of my Irish/English ancestry.

So I've finally learned my lesson and now slop on healthy quantities of sunscreen several times a week. Personally, I prefer SPF 15 because it's not so thick. But I know I need a good SPF 30 or more if I'm going out for any length of time or hanging around the ocean or swimming pool or something. I've even got one extra-thick lotion that makes me laugh when I smear some on and look in the mirror. There I am, staring back at myself in whiteface and the darned stuff just won't rub in completely. I always think I resemble Queen Elizabeth I. Or maybe Marcel Marceau - I have to resist an impulse to launch into his "Walking Against The Wind" routine. Hey, at least I know what to wear if I need a second career as a street mime. But seriously, sunscreen is a necessity in Fort Lauderdale, as most tourists very quickly discover. Those who don't discover this soon take on the appearance of, well, red chili peppers on legs. Perpetual sun is a wonderful thing and I sometimes wonder if I could live without it after all these years in Florida. The sunny skies make your days feel welcoming and joyful somehow. Still, it's important to have plenty of the old SPF 30 on hand and to "apply it often," as the sunscreen labels say. I can offer this advice without conflict of interest concerns as I have no stock in Banana Boat. Yet.