summer

I knew it as I dressed this morning: a telltale, blurry line of pale on paler. It was a demarcation of freckles next to the barest whisper of what could only be described as a suntan. It's not much, mind you; a 'tan' on a strawberry blonde can only be described as the barest blush of color on cream, but it is there, nevertheless.

This afternoon I came home with a sunburn, my skin smelling faintly of chlorine underneath the sunscreen tang.

You see, there's cute, and then there's a six-year-old learning to swim while wearing a shark mask and fins.

Some recent finds from the joys of the interweb:

#1: What Planet Is This?

From this article from the Sun-Sentinel (italics are mine):

Mark and Lisa Hiryak, of Stuttgart, Ark., who were vacationing here, said the mixture of sun and clouds make South Florida’s beaches more appealing.

“I’ve heard South Florida’s sun is different because you can’t get burned from it,” said Lisa Hiryak, although her nose was turning red from a few minutes of afternoon sun.

I think I speak for all fair-skinned redheads in this world when I say: As soon as there’s sunlight that you can’t get burned from, I’m moving there, buying beachfront property, and learning how to sunbathe. Until then, it’s SPF 3000 and parasols for me.