Tag Archives: sunshine

Sunbathe then Sunscreen

Growing up in Barbados, I never wore sunscreen. It was something tourists wore so they wouldn’t burn. My mom would put some on my face when we would spend our summers on the beach, 6-7 hours a day, but other than that I didn’t wear it. I would turn golden brown and there was no doubt that I was local.

Now, after living in Canada for almost 45 years, I’m far more susceptible to burning and I need sunscreen. But I love the feel of the sun without a layer of slime on me. What I do is I always spend 20 to 40 minutes with no sunscreen on when I first get out in the sun. I literally sunbathe. Then, before I feel a burn, I put a nice high level sunscreen on. Sometimes it’s the little joys in life that mean a lot.

The longest day

Happy Summer Solstice! It’s hard to believe that today is the longest day of the year.

When the shortest day comes on December 21st, I’m ready for the days to get longer. It’s dark early and it feels like the right time to swing the pendulum back, and to start seeing more daylight. But June 21st seems too early in the summer to be at the maximum daylight length.

School is still in session, and the entire summer holiday is ahead of us. In my head the long, bright days of summer are just approaching. But every day from now until next December will get a little shorter.

There are reasons why the dead of winter is delayed until after the shortest day of the year, and why summer is hottest after the longest day… but intuitively it doesn’t make a lot of sense. This day just seems to come too early in the year. This timing does explain why the summer solstice was such an important event to pre-industrial humans. This is the day that leads to a bountiful summer, when the sun provides the greatest rewards. It’s a time when all crops have been planted and many early crops will already be ready, and ripe for picking. And so there is enough food for a feast, and the hard work of caring for crops and harvesting are ahead.

Now, the solstice is just an interesting fact, rather than a big celebration. But I always look forward to the summer and winter solstice. The winter solstice because it’s nice to think of each day getting longer as the winter approaches. The summer solstice because the whole summer lies ahead. So, while many don’t think of this day as special, I do.

Bajan Sun

I grew up in Barbados and loved spending time in the sun. Summers would be spent at the beach, arriving on the sand after breakfast, and often staying until late afternoon. The beach was only a 5 minute walk from our apartment on the second level of a two-story quadplex, and sometimes we’d walk home for lunch, but usually we’d bring a lunch or buy something on the beach.

I’d get so dark that my bathing suit tan line looked like it divided two completely different people. The amazing thing is, I never used sun tan lotion. That was stuff the tourists used. And we saw a lot of burned tourists.

My grandparents lived in a big house on our street and they owned a motel at the end of the street, about 25 meters from our apartment. I can remember my granny’s institutions to newcomers, in her Bajan accent.

“Listen ta me. I got two important things ta tell you. First, don’ go in the sun between 10 and 2 for your first few days… and watch out for the Bajan rum!”

Like clockwork there would be a couple that ignored her warning about every 2-3 weeks. It usually went like this: The first night I’d be woken up late by a taxi dropping a couple off. The husband would be slurring and generally being an ass, drunk on our strong rum. And his apologetic wife would be unsuccessfully trying to corral him into their room while trying to keep him quiet and not wake anyone up. Or they’d both be drunk and making a ruckus.

Next, I’d see them visiting my grandparents the following evening, either just the husband or both of them, red as lobsters, arms outstretched, and asking what to do about the sunburn pain? Basically, being hung over, they would decide to just go to the beach, ignore my granny’s advice and sleep in the sun during that blazing hot time between 10am and 2pm. My granny’s advice was always the same: vinegar. Keep it in the fridge, put it on a soft cloth and dab the burn. She used to give the vinegar out for free, or at least with the cost of an ‘I told you so’ lecture.

I can no longer sit in the sun for endless hours without sun tan lotion. I don’t know if it’s a difference in the sun or my soft Canadian skin, but I can’t handle the sun like I did as a kid. I hate suntan location though, to me it feels like a film of dirt being added to my skin. So I still don’t use it much. Instead of using it, when I go to the beach, I sit in the morning sun, enjoy the feel of soaking in some natural vitamin D, then seek shade after that. I listen to my body and it tells me when I’ve had enough. Sometimes the sun is unavoidable beyond that and yes, on those days I still use sun tan lotion, but mostly I am just cautious about how much sun I get. I still tan well, but it has been decades since I’ve had that stark tan line just above my bathing suit.

Growing up on an island I saw many raw, burned tourists. I saw t-shirt lines so dark, I thought their white bodies were shirts with chest hair. I saw skin peeling off their arms and backs. I saw Santa coloured cheeks, and Rudolph coloured noses during every month of the year. And I heard my granny’s warning over and over again to newcomers, to watch out for the Bajan sun and rum!