I kept touching the same spot on my right arm to see if the color had changed yet. Nothing. My toes wouldn't stop wiggling in the sand. The tide was high and so were my expectations of starting off this summer with some "fun in the sun." My friend put some tanning oil on herself while I thought about putting on some sunscreen... but I decided against it since we wouldn't be there long.
I couldn't lie still for the longest time. I really wanted to use my new sandcastle buckets, play in the freezing ocean swells or walk over to the pier. I was so excited that it wasn't easy to just lie there, but I knew that my friend wanted to get a suntan, so I didn't say anything. Laying out is really not my thing. I finally got comfortable on my beach towel in the sand. The soft sound of the waves and the radio made me almost drift off to sleep. This was the life.
A few minutes later I began to remember why I was not a fan of laying out. We got into the shade, and I suddenly began to see and feel the fiery effects of the sun on my skin. Now it worked: I touched my right arm and that spot went from red to white to red again in a flash. Somehow I forgot that those were my only two colors. My friend's colors? Tan and tanner. I was one fried lobster.
Since that day - two days ago - I have been stuck like this. Lying face down, arms framing my head, just the way I was when the sun brutally attacked me in slow motion. As bad as I want to play outside, I can't. It is too hard to move.
The good part about all this is that I'm being forced to sit still. I never "had time" to read a good book. Yep, that is pretty much all I can do right now. No more wiggling around. No more getting comfortable... just being still. I have read two books in two days. Bud, Not Buddy and Pictures of Hollis Woods. GREAT books. After finishing them, I could not believe how I hadn't taken time to read in... I don't know how long. Even though I was stuck at home, I got to go all over the place. I got to travel with Bud and Hollis. Before I knew it I was in the middle of nowhere in Michigan and then in the woods of New York. I was lost in another world thinking: Now this is the life.
I was stranded under the sun that day. I could do nothing else but lie there waiting for the time on our parking meter to run out. Now I am stranded on the couch, but I get to experience great people and places without even getting up. Next time I go to the beach to lay out with my friend, I'm bringing some strong sunscreen and a good book.
I couldn't lie still for the longest time. I really wanted to use my new sandcastle buckets, play in the freezing ocean swells or walk over to the pier. I was so excited that it wasn't easy to just lie there, but I knew that my friend wanted to get a suntan, so I didn't say anything. Laying out is really not my thing. I finally got comfortable on my beach towel in the sand. The soft sound of the waves and the radio made me almost drift off to sleep. This was the life.
A few minutes later I began to remember why I was not a fan of laying out. We got into the shade, and I suddenly began to see and feel the fiery effects of the sun on my skin. Now it worked: I touched my right arm and that spot went from red to white to red again in a flash. Somehow I forgot that those were my only two colors. My friend's colors? Tan and tanner. I was one fried lobster.
Since that day - two days ago - I have been stuck like this. Lying face down, arms framing my head, just the way I was when the sun brutally attacked me in slow motion. As bad as I want to play outside, I can't. It is too hard to move.
The good part about all this is that I'm being forced to sit still. I never "had time" to read a good book. Yep, that is pretty much all I can do right now. No more wiggling around. No more getting comfortable... just being still. I have read two books in two days. Bud, Not Buddy and Pictures of Hollis Woods. GREAT books. After finishing them, I could not believe how I hadn't taken time to read in... I don't know how long. Even though I was stuck at home, I got to go all over the place. I got to travel with Bud and Hollis. Before I knew it I was in the middle of nowhere in Michigan and then in the woods of New York. I was lost in another world thinking: Now this is the life.
I was stranded under the sun that day. I could do nothing else but lie there waiting for the time on our parking meter to run out. Now I am stranded on the couch, but I get to experience great people and places without even getting up. Next time I go to the beach to lay out with my friend, I'm bringing some strong sunscreen and a good book.
