I had yet another thought on the difficulties of summertime...skin! Prizing lily-white skin went out about the time Queen Victoria gained her Heavenly reward. I keep hoping that the dangers of skin cancer that comes from tanning will eventually bring the "white" look back into vogue, but it hasn't happened yet. I don't tan. As a teenager, I would lay outside for hours, slathering myself with baby oil and lining my blanket with tin foil (to attract the sun). All I ever got for my efforts was a terrible burn that would render me unable to move for several days. Not too smart! My skin is adverse to tanning, it seems. Now, my left arm will darken slightly in the summertime but that's only from driving.
My great great grandmother was a full blooded Choctaw Indian. You would think, that in all fairness, some of her dark skin would have been passed down to me. Even with all the white spouses in the interim between her and me, still you'd think I could have attained at least a bit of leftover Indian color in my pigment, which would give me a nice, light, year-round tan.
But no. My grandma (other side of the family) was a red-head with the fair, freckled skin to go along with it. Apparently her genes dominated and, while my hair is not red, I did get her light skin. That means that while other woman glow in the summertime, exposing their beautiful tanned legs and firm arms, I simply look like a wilted white lily -- a lily that someone stepped on. And now that I am getting older, my white legs (that I usually try to keep covered) are gaining a collection of unsightly purple veins. Every year their number grows and every year my pants get longer...sigh...
Interesting note on skin: I have often seriously wondered if David got some of his great-great-great grandmother's Indian skin. That boy is SO dark, especially in the summer. His brothers and Paul and I look like the Cullen family standing next to him.
Yesterday our high was about 80 degrees - sunny and gorgeous. It is supposed to be that way all week long. As one of my Facebook friends commented, "This is what summer is supposed to be!" Indeed - and if it was, you wouldn't hear me complain nearly so much!
You so should be Canadian! I'm as white as the driven snow nearly all year, since I hide from the sun in the summer, not being able to stand the heat. But I still recall laying on a beach in Louisiana with a college friend. I was nearly asleep on my blanket when I heard in a southern drawl, "OMG look at that. My daddy used to call them lantern legs. Look how white they are!"
ReplyDeleteI, of course was devastated at the time. I proceeded to get the worst sunburn of my life, out of spite, I think.
Now, I'm quite content with my "Lantern" body LOL.