This sun is VICIOUS .. wear your rashie!

We've enjoyed being so close to the beach at Semaphore -my old neighbourhood beach (well 15 min-drive neighbourhood beach).  

Enjoying the beach using thongs to protect my head from the vicious sun and swat dies away from my face.

 There is a nice bike path along the beach and Semaphore Road has become a great eating and shopping strip - similar perhaps to the way Hintonburg has been reborn? 

The walk home from shopping on Semaphore Road

So as part of being back home and sharing in family duties we offered to entertain our niece and nephew - James (9) and Jess (8).  It's pretty easy looking after them when you have a great pool at the caravan park or you can hop over the sand dunes to a fairly pristine (save for the odd bit of seaweed) beach.  So that's what we did on a not-so hot day just before Christmas.  The kiddies did endless handstands and dives in the pool and all of them required being "marked" out of ten - and that was my job and I did a pretty good job of it I must say.  Also, part of my responsibilities was to check to make sure they were wearing sunscreen and I did that and they assured me they were … good job Jill!  

There were both 9's - don't know how their feet didn't get sunburnt!!

What I didn't realize on that day, but I do now, is that in the 30 years I've been gone the sun is now a LOT hotter-I've declared it VICIOUS.   It will sizzle you in seconds … and that's what happened to Jess and me!  Jess's sunscreen washed off (duh - any responsible adult knows that!) and I wasn't even wearing any!  I was pretty sure her mum or dad would say that it was no problem, she turns brown right away, but no such luck!  Her dad was in trouble for not sending over her "rashie" so I was off the hook for 50% of the burn. And as part of my punishment I also had a decent burn but adding it to my already "summer-in-Canada some-sun-in-Europe" tan it wasn't as bad as Jess'.  Hers was sore and peeled and well lets just say … I don't think I'll be asked to baby-sit them anymore.

Now I bet by now you are saying to yourself "what is a "rashie""? (where does the " go?)  Most children (those who have responsible carers anyway) wear them when swimming because they cut out upto 80% of the suns rays, and if Jess had been wearing hers there would have been no burn at all. They are light-weight and dry quickly  and Joseph needs to get one but I think I would melt in one and besides - I have my (cancer) tan already!

                               There should be a photo of a rashie here but Jess didn't bring hers and Joseph doesn't have his yet!! 

OK - but where does the WORD "rashie" come from?  Turns out it was invented by surfers to wear to prevent them getting rashes from the sand that sticks to their board wax…. and if you don't know by now, Aussies have a slang word for just about everything so the "rashie" was born.  It morphed from surfers into general use and seriously I hear mother's all over the caravan park telling their children to wear their "rashie" -it's as common as  putting on your thongs or your bathers.

All of this to remind me that I've been way for a long time