Priorities

I am working on my tan.

This is no small thing for a fair-skinned, self-described homebody who has spent most of her life indoors. I developed an aversion (okay, fear) of the sun after a few horrendous burns as a kid in Minnesota. After that, the feeling of sunshine on my skin was almost painful —- especially after I moved to, of all places, San Diego. And then to Las Vegas! What was I thinking?

Air conditioned comfort in the SHADE, that’s what I was thinking. Anyone who has been a passenger while I’m behind the wheel knows to be on the lookout for a shady parking spot when we arrive at our destination. It’s a requirement. When I find one, I know that God wants me to shop here.

The down side, of course, is a pasty white, unattractive appearance, especially in the lower extremeties. I could have used leg makeup, or even gone to a tanning salon, but it was easier to give up dresses and cover my naked white legs with pants. (Down side of pants: No chance of correcting the problem. Up side: no more shaving!) Have you ever seen a Midwestern tourist on winter vacation in a sunny clime? Bermuda shorts and legs the color of Xerox paper? That was me, year-round, only I had the good sense to avoid wearing shorts.

Which kind of defeats the purpose of living in Southern California.

I used to walk to the mailbox as fast as I could, telling myself over and over, “Vitamin D, Vitamin D,” as though three minutes a day in direct sunlight would be enough to make up for the deficit my doctor warned me of a few years ago. My blood test showed an 8 for D, which meant nothing to me until Dr. Moss said it should say 50. I took megadoses and over a few months got the number up to 37. I’m pretty sure the rest of that deficiency has been erased by vandwelling.

I read some tourist information at the Mammoth Lakes library that said UV radiation at this elevation (7200 feet) is 50% higher than at sea level. Visitors and locals are warned to wear 70 SPF sunscreen. Well, I decided after my first day of desert vandwelling that sunscreen was not going to be part of my life. I simply couldn’t stand the sticky feel of it on my skin. So I made a point of covering up, wearing a hat, and staying in LaVanne or seeking out shade wherever possible during the midday hours.

It’s worked so far.

I slowly and carefully built up a moderate tan on my face, neck, and arms without getting burned. I started wearing capri yoga pants, both for comfort and the possibility that maybe, just maybe, my white-on-white legs might acquire a hint of color. After two weeks of daily morning walks in the desert last winter, they did! I couldn’t stop admiring the fifteen-inch band of beige that reached from a couple of inches below my knees to the sock line above my ankles. Bluish-white thighs and feet, but beige (think Flesh colored Crayons) where it counts.

With various recent adventures and illnesses, though, I haven’t been diligently walking every day — or any day. My shins and calves were getting dangerously close to pasty again. (Not to mention the return of most of the pounds I had lost.)

Something had to be done. So the daily morning walk (in shorts this time — tan knees!) is back on, and after only three days, I can see beige again, yay! I’ve even bought a sundress — I’m wearing it right now in the library — because I’m no longer embarrassed to show skin!

I’d show you but the camera just doesn’t see it. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Meanwhile, please accept these flowers from my morning walk instead.