Burn, baby, Burn… Or maybe not.

I’m a Summer baby, through and through.
I love the heat. LOVE IT.
I love eating cold stone fruit straight from the fridge, on a scorching Summer day.
I love outdoor BBQ’s, lazy evening’s and kids under sprinklers.
I love sipping Corona’s in the hot arvo… I would say, I love sipping Corona’s in the hot arvo sun… But, that’s not true, I don’t.
My friends and family like to tease and give me grief every, single Summer.
Why… You ask?
Because, I’m a Vampire.
Not the Edward Cullen type that has mesmerizing, diamond-like skin.
I’m the Blade type.
The sort that erupts into flames when put in proximity with UV rays.
I love Summer, but, I loathe being in the Sun.

Yes, I know you need the Vitamin D. But, I figure the walk to and from my car will sort this one out.
Yes, I’m fully aware, a Sunkissed glow looks healthy and appealing. But, when you’re a fair skinned European rose like me, it usually becomes more of a Sunburnt glare…
If I go out in the full peak hour rays for 3 minutes max, I will get burnt. Guaranteed.
I even got red recently in Melbourne (of all places), whilst waiting for a cup of tea.
A. CUP. OF. TEA.
I actually got singed one year, while sitting under a shade canopy and wearing a sun hat and kaftan. HOW is this even possible…?

But, my fun and sun lovin’ friends, my dermal reality hasn’t always been this way.
When I was younger, footloose and fancy free.
When wrinkles on my early adult face were not even a precursor, and my perception of Skin Cancer was vague and somewhat dim.
I, was a bronzed little chicos baby.

I spent my Summer days off, lazing like a lizard, catchin’ rays.
Weekends, leisurely spent, lounging around in full sun.
When my good friend Megan and I travelled through Mexico (read about it here), we were so brown, the Mexican’s thought we were locals. True story.
I actually used a sunbed tan activator, at the beach. WTF?
Sunscreen did not exist to me.
I had no care whatsoever for the health of my skin or the consequences of my carefree attitude towards our favourite ball of flames, the Sun.
That is, until I found a spot on my leg.

Sitting on the loo one day, shortly after my sister Cerrita’s Thai wedding (the wedding I spent hours at the solarium prepping myself for…), I looked down and saw a tiny little black dot on my thigh.
A dot so small, had it been on any other part of my body, I would never have seen it. A dot that only stood out to me, because it was Black.
I don’t know how everyone else feels about this, but where I come from, when something’s Black and it’s on your body, it’s not usually a good sign.
Blackhead… Black Plague… Black mole… All signs point to NO.
Anyhoo, to cut a long story short… I got this 2mm dot cut out of my leg and tested… And it was pre-cancerous.
Had I left it there or had I never noticed it, this minute little dark speck, could’ve been my entire mortal undoing.

So, when you witness my ghostly pale skin this Summer, please don’t scoff at my lack of pigment. It’s intentional.
I don’t want to prematurely age and I’ve also got a real aversion to looking like the Moon when I’m an old duck, from having stuff cut out of me left, right and centre.
Also, if you ever see me in the supermarket in oversized sunnies and a hat, I’m not trying to shop incognito (as someone has once thought…). No, I don’t think I’m famous. If that were the case, I wouldn’t wear my Maseur Massage Sandals in public.
No dear friends, I’m just hiding from my greatest nemesis, the Sun.

In honour of us all being sun smart this Summer and in 2015 (farrrk me, I DO sound like a nagging mum!), I’m sharing with you my Herb Roasted Chook with Haloumi Salad and Hummus recipe.
Why… You ask, again?

Because, just like Seinfeld, sometimes my posts are just a show about nothing.
Until next week, Happy New 2015… xxx