Hibernate Blog

Seems hard to believe, but yesterday at the grocery store I bought sun screen. Wasn’t it just the other day Al Roker was talking about snow in upstate New York? The Adirondack winters are such that when they finally end, some of us still struggle to accept that it might be safe to stow the parkas and mittens. Seven consecutive days of sun, with afternoon play in the backyard and reflections from the water table burning our skin, left me searching for protection.

Where to look! Last year’s bottles have long since found their way to the garbage, the edges of the bottles sticky and mottled with juice box remnants, hand prints of protest (why do kids fight the application so vociferously?) and dog hair. The lotions I use daily have just a 15 SPF rating and will most certainly burn little toddler eyes as the ringlets and grimy hands inevitably guide the lotion to those baby blues.

I purchased the 70 SPF Aveeno mist for the girls and 45 SPF Neutrogena Dry Spray for myself, despite the niggling memory of having read in some magazine or another that any SPF over 30 is not worth the money as 30 SPF provides protection from 97% of the sun’s rays. It’s so hard to keep it all straight and sometimes it just feels better buying what appears to be the best available, i.e. Aveeno SPF 70.

I sprayed my collar bone this morning as we headed into work on foot, partly in honor of the efforts being made for Earth Day and partly for the efforts being made to create a birthday. I’d forgotten how sunscreen can make you shiny and leave your skin feeling slightly tacky (no offense to Neutrogena). As we walked the delicate scent of the spray wafted in and out.

It took me back to days by the lake, chubby little legs running to the water’s edge, bits of sand clinging to bright, white rolls of baby thigh. I remembered the cool touch of post-cool-bedtime-bath faces. The promise of summer nights and fresh farmer’s market breakfasts on the porch. I quickly bundled up the slickers and parkas, a smile on my face.

Summer is coming and with it the opportunity to relive its magic through the squeals and smiles of our little girls.