Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Q. What's Black and White and Red All Over?

A. A zebra with a sunburn. 

I fully admit that it is my own fault that I didn't put on sunscreen over the weekend. I was only really outside for a little while on Saturday (walking, not sunbathing), and then again for about an hour or so on Sunday when I was sitting in a hot tub. 

I think the problem with this is that the hot tub (and the wandering around on Saturday) happened to be in Dallas. Where, thanks to the strength of the sun, it still gets into the 80s and 90s this time of year. 

So, while I was thinking that it was September and I shouldn't have to worry about getting a burn in such a short time, I guess I was wrong. But here's the frustrating part: I didn't burn on my face or my arms or my neck. Or even my legs. So no one I saw at work today (or travelling back to Minnesota, yesterday) could tell that I had a sunburn. 

Because the sunburn is kind of in about an eight-inch stripe across my upper torso. You see, it covers the area from my sternum up to my collar bone, and travels up to my shoulders and down the "farmer tan" areas of my upper arms. Only in the front - because I was facing the sun at the time. 

In essence, my burn looks like this (if the grey areas of his uniform were red, and the rest was normal skin tone): 


See the look on his face? That's how I feel about this - a little frustrated, a little mad at myself, and really annoyed that my skin (which was dried out by the sun, the air conditioning, and the travel) is now really itchy but I don't want to scratch myself in public. 

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