Save Yourself!

By Ron Brooks

While we were fishing with Miss Judy this past week, I was made painfully aware of something I have known for years.  That awareness is that the sun will burn you, even on a cloudy overcast day.  You see, I simply forgot to use my sunscreen, something I always try to do.  I am a peeling, fried mess right now, and my wife is really upset with me.

My family has been in the sun forever it seems.  Only when I was older and my father began having serious skin problems did I start using sunscreen.  He suffered greatly with skin scrapes, spot removals, and eventually had multiple cancers removed from his face, neck and arms.  It became a yearly occurrence at the hospital as new ones would regularly propagate.

Doctors have told us and continue to tell us that the sun will kill you if you let it.  But somehow, just like I did this week, we forget to follow through.

Save yourself from heartache and pain.  Wear a long sleeve shirt and a good hat.  You may even try those special gloves to protect your hands.  Make it a regular ritual to coat yourself in sunscreen at the beginning of each trip.  One application of a good SP-15 screen will generally last the entire day.  Yes, SP-15.  My doctor says that the protection that SP-15 provides from the bad rays is more than sufficient.  Anything higher is nice, but is overkill.  I do admit to having a bottle of SP-45 "Baby Skin" which I prefer to use - mainly because of the smell and feel.   It's an uncomfortable mess for only about 10 minutes in the morning, but it will allow you to fish for years to come.  Come on - save yourself!