How To Exist In The Sunshine
I think I’ll stop starting these entries with apologies for not updating lately, because otherwise it’s going to get dull. For future reference, just assume my remorse.
Anyway, according to the basic three-months-each theory of seasons, the summer starts somewhere around the beginning of June, which is… now. We’ve had a few days of sunshine here in lovely London, interspersed with worse weather. Yesterday I got absolutely soaked all through my skin in a torrential downpour, for example.
Still, in an intermittently snarky advice blog, this seems a good time for some thoughts on what to do when the sun puts his hat on, pulls up his pants and goes to work on us.
Cowering Indoors Is The Easy Way Out
I bet you were expecting me to say “Stay inside! Don’t go out! Stock up on canned produce!” And looking at my previous output, I can see why you might.
But that seems a bit much. I mean, don’t burn yourself to buggery, don’t stand in direct sunlight if it makes you feel uncomfortable and, yes, it is probably going to get rather hot and sweaty in your office. But none of that constitutes a reason to hide indoors.
Do you break out in a bright orange rash and start losing skin by the roll in the event of direct sunlight? See, that’s a reason to stay out of the sun.
The Shade Is Your Friend
But though I try not to hide indoors, I can definitely be found lurking in the shade. Sunlight is nice, direct sunlight is lame. I swear I can feel the skin cancer forming in real time.
Of course, I am a bit pale and spend a lot of time indoors at a computer, so I imagine I’m simply not calibrated correctly. I went to Barcelona once, and spent the entire week dashing from one patch of shade to another, as if trying to dodge enemy fire. Fortunately one of my friends was even paler than I, so I wasn’t entirely alone.
Still, point being: hiding indoors may be excessive, but there’s no shame in staying in the shade a lot of the time. After all, it’s still quite warm.
Rays Of Other
Also seen in the summer… hay fever (annoying), the constant need for air conditioning (uncomfortable), inability to do any exercise aside from the barely-mobile sport of cricket (tragic) and the need to cover your body in a white, oily substance which leaves you unable to keep hold of objects or work your smartphone.
Yeah, I will admit this season irritates me in a few ways. But despite that, I must strive not to hide until it’s over. Even I go and sit in the back garden with my rubbish laptop on really sunny days, because it’s a nice way to do some writing. And don’t let me tell you otherwise when I’m in a bad mood in a couple of weeks.