First Fry Of the Year

I sometimes question, when will I ever learn from my mishaps? It is no secret that I am fair-skinned & extremely sensitive to the rays of the sun. This is not a new revelation by any means. For as long as I can remember, "getting color" has not been an issue for me as I "bake" rather quickly. Time after time, I have set out in the sunshine with failure to protect myself with sunscreen. Afterwards, I find myself well-done & in pain & agony. Yet, I still continue to let the bottle of SPF slip my mind. While driving home after a wedding last Saturday, I conversed with a new friend. As he talked to me, he was sitting out at a track meet in his home state of Alabama. He shared that it was rather warm, the hottest it had been there yet this year. He was wishing he would have taken an umbrella for shade. We talked at lengths about the sun--learned that we both like the rain. I whined about how I can be burnt within just a matter of minutes. The following day, my best buddy arrived at my house showing me her skin that was all blotchy thanks to discovering she's allergic to the sun. She found that out after being sun-poisoned last summer. As Crystal & I prepared to walk out the door to travel down to Busch Stadium for the Cardinals/Cubs game, (despite having had these conversations regarding the sun)never once did a lightbulb go off in my head that told me I should put sunscreen on or even take it with me to put on later. Once we arrived at the ballpark, the switch flipped on in my mind & I said to Crystal, "Guess what I forgot?" When I told her, she just shook her head. So, the consequence to my irresponsibility was a bright red cherry face as well as pink arms. Thankfully, we were not even in the full sun...we were partially covered where we were seated. As I write this, the pain has subsided & flakes have began to fall as I peel. I wonder....next time I must be outside, will I consider bathing myself in sunscreen? Probably not. Applying sunscreen is, to me, what taking medication is--something I forget regularly. I have to be reminded over & over to take medicine & even then, I seem to not remember. Perhaps one of these days the importance of both will be made known to me.