Sunburns.

Every year, after being cooped up and not able to swim during the long winter months, I eventually get the opportunity to finally expose my now extremely pale self to the sun. For some reason, every year I think it's a great idea to get a small sunburn, since I don't tan; I burn, then I peel into a tanner, frecklier state. It's not the best way, but it's the only way that works for me. After a few of these sunburns, I tan quite nicely, usually because I spend every day of the summer in the pool and by the end I'm darker than I knew my skin could handle. I'm naturally fair-skinned.Very fair skinned.

Anyways, so yesterday I figured since I'm a college kid on spring break, I should go to the beach! So I called up some friends and went to the beach. Now, out of not being completely suicidal and because of my mom's warnings, I always apply sunscreen upon arriving to the beach. I just hope that the sun will somehow find its way through the layer of 30 SPF coating my skin and manage to change my melanin. In the past, sometimes if I apply sunscreen I get no sun at all, and sometimes I still get burnt. I'm wondering what kind of day today will be.

After this, I stop thinking about the sun and my skin and I go into the water, which is still quite cold. The first few steps are numbing, and I shriek as the waves splash higher than I expect. Eventually, I gather the courage to dive under a wave, and then the water feels nice, and I proceed to jump around and dive in the waves. The waves are an orange flag today, so they're strong, and the rip current is strong. The water tugs at my legs as the wave approaches, and as I go under and it crashes over me, I can feel the water rushing overhead. I try to get low enough that it doesn't hit me, but occasionally I get caught ad dragged a few feet before I regain my balance. It's a little scary, but really fun.

After a few minutes, we decide that we'd prefer to be on the beach in the warm sun, so we return to the space in the sand where we placed our belongings, spread out some towels, and lie in the sun and talk for an hour or two. Then we go through the entire last paragraph again and enter the water, which is easier now that we know to just brave it and dive under. Soon enough, we are back on the beach on the towels, warming ourselves up again. We eat the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we brought, sit around some, and decide to brave the water a third time. We get in to our knees and I decide that I don't have the strength to do this again. First, the water is cold. Second, the waves are really strong, and last time I went under one popped my ear and its still making a weird crackling noise every time I open my mouth. So we walk around for a while, then decide to leave. We've been there about four hours.

As we leave, my face is feeling a little burnt, but the rest of me appears to be as pale as ever. In the car mirror, I can visibly see that my face, and my nose in particular, is a shade of pink that makes me laugh more than anything else. The rest of me has also turned a very light shade of pink, as I am pleased to see. I hope it's just not too bad. Mom won't be happy.

I go home, and notice that the pink is a little more red than I expected, and it kind of hurts. Mom is unhappy, and reminds me that it keeps getting darker for the next few hours. She has me take some Advil for the pain, and I put aloe gel stuff on my skin.

Skip to the next morning. I made the mistake of moving my extremities as I woke up and tried to look at the clock. This was a big mistake on my part, as the backs of my legs (one of the worst parts of the burn,) my shoulders, my arms, and my stomach all proceed to feel as though they are being poked by jillions of tiny needles made of fire. It is not a pleasant feeling. I stand up, but the pain just continues. I go take Advil and reapply the aloe gel, then inspect the damage in the mirror, since usually everything is paler the second day. I'm not really red anywhere, though the backs of my legs are probably the worst. Everywhere else that i'm burnt it's a painful, though not bad, shade of pink. And it's not consistent. The backs of my legs, the tops of my thighs, and the sides of my calves. The tops of my hands, and half of my inner forearms. It's like not all of the sunscreen decided to wear off, just certain parts. It's not the most ridiculous looking sunburn I've ever had, but nothing about it is consistent.

Either way, I am now sitting on my bed attempting to move as little as possible, though I should probably go drink some water. Mom told me to drink lots of water. I might get up in a few minutes for the water, and do a raptor-like walk in which I don't fully straighten my legs so as to avoid tension on the skin on the backs of my knees. I will creep to the kitchen in this manner and find a glass of water. Then I will return to my room and sit down on the bed, trying not to move for as long as possible, until it becomes necessary to again wander the halls of my home.

I think the point of this story is that I don't know why I always want this odd initial sunburn. I remember getting it my first year as a camp counselor, and lying in bed near tears one night. Second year as a camp counselor, the sunscreen worked every time. First year as a lifegaurd, got a small sunburn, then gradually tanned the rest of the year. Either way, now I am sunburnt.

I should have reapplied the sunscreen somewhere in the middle of the trip. That would have been a good idea.