Burn sauce

I went the beach on Sunday and Monday. I have forgotten how much I love to ocean. New York beaches tend to scare me because they are unfamiliar to the beaches I grew up with. But this weekend I went to a beach that was close. I still miss the the expanse of Southern California beaches and the waves (real waves) and the jellyfish still freak me out a bit. But it was close and I am grateful for the lack of tar. Yes, tar.

What I also forgot is that I am not the same 13 year old kid who tanned easily. Heck, maybe if you was going to the beach 3 times a week and getting sun on a regular basis I would still tan easily. Now I am (in the words of another) "old and pale." I am actually or and red and white, like a peppermint candy in grandma's purse. The pain is gradually going away but wearing socks is still painful. In fact, I seem to have neglected putting any sunscreen on my lower shins or it just washed off quickly in the water. Unclear. What I do know is that it feels like all of the skin on my lower shins is burned to the bone. If I lay down for five minutes and then stand up I scream in pain. I don't know what it is. Maybe the blood rushing back down, which makes me think that the veins and blood vessels down there are actually burned.

You will all be glad to hear that my ass and upper calves are still pure white.

Pain Threshold

I've always imagined that I have a fairly high pain threshold. My usually reaction to getting hurt is to just deal with it. When I sliced most of my left thumb pad off with an box-cutter, I was very calm as blood poured down my arm. I get hit and knocked around fairly often and it doesn't seem to phase my that much. I like to think that I could drag my self out off a mountain ala "Touching the Void."

I'm lying to myself.

Last night/this morning I suddenly found my self screaming. I threw my body out of the bed, landing hard on the floor. My brain was blank at what to do. I squirmed around on the floor, banging my head on the side of the bed.

I had a muscle cramp in my calf.

I'm gonna go get lunch now.